Scotland hooker Fraser Brown to retire at end of season

Scotland and Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown has announced that he will be retiring from professional rugby at the end of the ongoing season.

Brown last played in May 2023 and has been sidelined after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during the World XV game against Barbarians.

The 34-year-old made his professional rugby debut with Edinburgh in 2010 and moved to Glasgow Warriors in 2013. He made his debut away to Zebre Parma in February 2013 and was part of the side that won the Pro12 title for the first time in the 2014/15 season.

He has overall made 141 appearances for Glasgow with his last appearance coming in April last year.

“It’s still slightly surreal to think this will be the end of my playing career,” Brown told glasgowwarriors.org following the announcement.

“I’m fairly level-headed about it just now, but I’m sure I’ll get a bit emotional about it at some point in the near-future.

“There have been so many moments I’ll look back at with pride from my time at Glasgow. The title run is obviously up there, and some of the performances from reaching the first-ever quarter-final in Europe in 2016/17 stick in my memory.

"The home and away wins over Racing, the atmosphere at Scotstoun for the win over Leicester and then going down to win 43-0 at Welford Road – that first half is probably as close to a perfect 40 minutes as I’ve ever experienced.

“The run to the 2019 final, too, is a highlight– that was a brilliant environment with some outstanding players and coaches, and the semi-final win over Ulster at Scotstoun is right up there.

"Last season is right up there, as well; we were getting written off a bit after a disappointing end to the previous season, but Franco coming in and getting back to appreciating hard work and everyone digging in makes it a season I really enjoyed".

Brown also made his Scotland debut in 2013 against Italy and has 61 Test caps to his name. He was also part of the squad that competed in the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups.

“To have been able to represent Scotland is a massive honour, too. I never thought I would get one cap, so to get to 50 – and beyond – was a huge moment for me. Until you experience it, you possibly don’t appreciate how intense an environment Test rugby really is, and again I’ve been fortunate enough to have some amazing people alongside me along the journey."