Bruce Andrew Ferguson Douglas won plaudits alongside his fellow front-row forwards for their resolute scrummaging in Scotland’s victory over England in the 2006 RBS 6 Nations. Previously in his career he was praised for his all-round handling skills in both Tests on Scotland’s 2003 tour of South Africa and again his work-rate earned him recognition on the 2004 tour of Australia.
Earlier in 2003 he scored his first try for Scotland in the 30-22 victory over Wales. International honours were instant reward for his decision to join The Borders in 2002 for their inaugural season after he had completed his contract with NEC Harlequins. He played in all three Scotland midweek victories in the 2002 summer tour of North America. In 2001 he had moved to Harlequins from Heriot’s FP and made his first XV debut for them in the Heineken Cup game in Castres in November that year. He played for Scotland A in the Churchill Cup match against the USA at Henley in June 2007. He was with Llanelli Scarlets for season 2007-2008 and then moved to Montpellier.
Bruce, a former pupil of George Heriot’s School, has represented Scottish Schools, Scottish Districts and Scotland at under-16, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. He played in the under-19 world championship victory against England at Pontypridd in 1999 and for Scotland under-21 in the Southern Hemisphere Alliance tournament in New Zealand in 2000.
He also played for Lothian Schools and Scottish Schools (both at three age levels), captained Edinburgh’s under-18 team, and played for the district later at under-19 and under-21.