Stafford McDowall has been named as the McCrea Financial Services Warrior of the Month for November, after leading Glasgow Warriors to an unbeaten month that propelled them to the top of the BKT United Rugby Championship standings.

The centre – capped by Scotland for the first time during the summer Test against Italy at Scottish Gas Murrayfield – played an integral role in a run of four fixtures that saw the Warriors claim 19 points from a possible 20, including three wins from three at home to extend an unbeaten run at Scotstoun to a club-record streak of 19 matches in succession.

Comfortable in either midfield jersey, McDowall earned his first-ever Player of the Match award during the home victory over Benetton, as well as becoming the fastest Glasgow captain ever to reach 10 victories by leading his side to victory over Ulster in just his 11^th outing as skipper.

The Stewartry RFC product’s blend of physical defence, accurate distribution and calm leadership has seen him start in every Glasgow Warriors match in 2023/24 to date, as Franco Smith’s men look to challenge on both a domestic and European level.

McDowall earns a donation to his chosen charity courtesy of McCrea Financial Services as well as the trophy, with the centre supporting Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity across the season.

“I’m really enjoying my rugby right now,” McDowall told glasgowwarriors.org.

“It’s a massive honour to represent this club, let alone be given the chance to captain the team while Kyle [Steyn] has been on the sidelines, and we’ve managed to get some good results and put ourselves in a really good position in the table.

“As a team, we feel like we still haven’t hit top gear yet. To be able to still get the results and the points we’ve picked up so far though, that shows that we’re in a good place. We were obviously disappointed with the result away to Munster last week, but to be second in the table as we break for Europe gives us a really good platform.

“We know how passionate our supporters are, and the backing we get from the Warrior Nation both at home and away is just immense. For them to vote for me for this award, from a field of quality nominees, it means a massive amount.”