Stafford McDowall opens up on fairytale end to his summer

The 26-year-old displayed his consistency as he impressed again for Glasgow Warriors before sustaining a nasty hand injury that deprived him of featuring at the business end of the season. McDowall is an integral member of Glasgow’s squad but he was left out of the squad for their stunning URC final win against the Bulls.

Despite the initial disappointment, McDowall rejoiced in celebrations with his teammates in South Africa but that was just the start of a memorable summer. After returning from South Africa and linking up with Scotland for their Americas tour,  the Dumfries-native was informed by Gregor Townsend that he would co-captain his country against Canada.

The honour and joy of captaining Scotland, however, was arguably surpassed later in the summer when McDowall proposed to his partner Lauren in Florida to cap off an incredible few months. 

“That was really special,” a smiling McDowall admitted. “I managed to get over to Florida for a couple of weeks down at the Keys. I proposed to Lauren and it was a nice way to round off a pretty busy year to relax with someone in my life that isn’t rugby related. It was nice to reflect and have a nice family moment - I’m really happy.

“Lauren didn’t expect it because I wasn’t sweaty at all apparently, so I’ve done quite well. It was pre-planned, I’d been talking to her friends about rings for six or seven months. I had the ring in safes and hiding it around so thankfully she didn’t expect a thing! Thankfully, she wants to take a couple of years because she’s studying at the moment so we will take our time and enjoy engaged life.

On his incredible summer, McDowall continued: “The final was unbelievable despite not being able to play because I was part of history. It was amazing because it was such a big season for all of us. Nobody really expected us to do it, except the people in the building and maybe our fans. 

“I went from that to camp and Gregor told me that I’d be co-captain with Luke (Crosbie) against Canada. I was on cloud nine for a couple of weeks. My dad flew out to the game, it was awesome to have him there for that and the whole tour in general was great. It was the first time that I’d been part of the summer tour and it was brilliant. I’ll have memories that I’ll hold forever.”

It’s every rugby player’s dream to represent their country, nevermind being entrusted with the captaincy, and McDowall’s dad flew out to Ottawa to provide support after frantically securing last-minute flights. 

The Glasgow centre made his Six Nations debut last year against Ireland and he’s determined to become a regular in Townsend’s squad after getting the taste for it. 

“I didn’t know if I was going to play,” McDowall admitted on facing Canada. “The group that didn’t play in the final joined up straight away, while the others got some time off. I was told early (that I’d be co-captain) and my dad booked flights over - thankfully there was some left. He was only over for four days in the end and he said it was worth it. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. I have the jersey framed and up on the wall so it’s something that I can look back on. It was an awesome moment to cap off a really good season.” 

“Ever since I was in the pre-World Cup game…once you get in that environment, you never want to leave. You don’t get in there easily, you need to work really hard for it and perform well. It gives you extra motivation to be back there on a regular basis and push for more caps.” 

Glasgow start their URC title defence with a daunting trip to Ulster on Saturday and Franco Smith’s men are now viewed as a major scalp after their success last season. The Warriors squad are desperate to replicate their heroics and nobody is hungrier than McDowall after missing the final as he opened up on finding out on his inclusion from head coach Smith.

“I cut my hand against the Lions on the last game of the tour,” said McDowall. “Unfortunately, it got infected on the flight back over and I needed to have an operation on it. They couldn’t stitch it up after the operation as they feared it would get infected again so it delayed the healing time. I probably wasn’t ready to play until the tail end of Munster week and by that point the team was really settled. Huw (Jones) was playing really well and Franco had a chat with me and made the decision (that I wouldn’t play). 

“I fully respect that decision and it’s one that I saw coming but it was frustrating because I was fit for the final. I probably wouldn’t have wanted to change it myself with the way the team was playing! I was happy to let the boys go and they did the job so you can’t complain.II can take solace from the fact that I played a part in the season whereas, in previous seasons when we’ve had success, I wasn’t involved as much.”