Murray Douglas

Murray Douglas (born 27 October 1989) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Shizuoka Blue Revs in Japan Rugby League One. His position is lock or blindside flanker.

Early life
Douglas was born and raised in Kirkcaldy, Fife where he attended Balwearie High School. After finishing high school, Douglas studied law at the University of Aberdeen where he played with Aberdeen GSFP RFC and captained the side in his final two years at university. The team gained promotion to the Scottish Premiership for the 2011/2012 season. He made his debut for Edinburgh Rugby in a 38-13 defeat to Cardiff Blues in April 2012.

Upon graduating from the University of Aberdeen Douglas began training as a solicitor with law firm Pinsent Masons. He joined Heriot's Rugby Club for the 2013/2014 season, winning the Scottish Cup after beating Glasgow Hawks RFC 31-10 in the final at Broadwood Stadium. During his time with Heriot's Rugby Club, Douglas captained the Scotland Club XV team in fixtures against Ireland Club XV and France national amateur rugby union team.

Rugby career
Douglas relocated to Melbourne, Australia in 2014 to pursue his legal career. He joined local side Melbourne Harlequins playing in the Dewar Shield competition. He was selected to represent Melbourne Rising in the newly created National Rugby Championship competition for seasons 2015 and 2016.

Douglas gained a professional contract with the Melbourne Rebels for the 2017 Super rugby season after impressing whilst on a trial during pre-season training. He made his debut for the Rebels against the Chiefs as a late replacement for Culum Retallick in a 24-14 defeat for the Rebels.

He then moved to New Zealand after accepting a contract with Northland Rugby Union for the 2017 and 2018 Mitre 10 Cup. His performances throughout the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup earned him a contract with Wellington based Super Rugby franchise Hurricanes (rugby union) for the 2018 season.

Upon the conclusion of the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season, Douglas accepted a two-year contract with Canberra based Super Rugby franchise ACT Brumbies. He became a mainstay in the match day squad at ACT Brumbies during his stay, predominantly coming off the bench in the 2019 Super Rugby season before starting every match in the second row in a dominant Brumbies pack in 2020. Douglas played in the ACT Brumbies 28-23 victory over the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby AU final at GIO Stadium on 19 September 2020.

During the 2019 Rugby World Cup Douglas joined Edinburgh Rugby on a short-term deal which coincided with the Super Rugby off-season. He made five appearances for the Capital side before a neck injury prematurely curtailed his time with the club.

Douglas signed a two-year contract with Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo ahead of 2021 Top League season.