Scotland starlet Jack Brown “just wants to get better every day” and “brilliant” attitude can take him places
Jack Brown is a player to keep an eye on in Scotland
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Over the course of 2024, Scotland have widened their base and have tried to allow as many young players as possible to train or play at a higher level.
Whether it was during their Skyscanner Americas Tour in the summer or last weekend against Portugal at Murrayfield, the tools at Gregor Townsend's disposal are increasing.
For example, last Saturday, 19-year-old back-row Freddy Douglas made his full international debut off the bench and this coming weekend, Jack Brown, a player who was born a month after his good friend Douglas, is set to make his Scotland A bow against the full Chile international side at Hive Stadium.
Douglas’ big day was his first-ever professional match and when back three player Brown gets on the field on Saturday, it will be his first outing at a pro level too.
The meeting with Chile is Scotland A's first game at home for 10 years and it will represent quite the jump from school, semi-pro Super6/Series and Edinburgh A games for Brown.
But, like Douglas, speak to those in the know about the 19-year-old and they believe he is ready to make the next step.
Mike Ker was Brown’s coach at George Watson’s College school in Edinburgh and told TRU: “Jack has one of the best attitudes that I have ever seen, he just wants to get better every day, it’s really brilliant to see.
“To get selected for Scotland A a year and a half or so after leaving school, and a year and a half that hasn’t been the easiest for him with injuries and what have you, shows me that he has impressed coaches in the pro-environment with his work ethic, his desire and his willingness to learn.
“Knowing him as I do, that doesn’t surprise me because these are all traits that he has displayed from a young age and I messaged him earlier this week saying how chuffed I was to see him involved in the A squad.
“Those who have been around him over the years have always known that he is a good rugby player but to go to the highest level, you have to show the right attributes on and off the field and I think Jack does that.
“Every time he goes out on the pitch to train or play a match, it is like the last time he will ever do so. He gives 100 per cent all of the time and squeezes everything out of himself and those around him.
“I think that hard work, on top of a lot of talent, can go a long way and I am really excited to watch Jack’s continuing rugby journey.
“It is also great for the youngsters who are still at our school to see him. Another former pupil Harri Morris is in this A squad along with Conor McAlpine who I believe has been training with the group, but is not in the matchday 23.”
“He can kick the ball an absolute mile - It is a bit of a superpower!'
Ker started working with Brown when he was in senior three (around 14 years old) and quickly shifted him from a centre to a full-back.
“There were two main reasons for that,” Ker, himself a Scotland age-grade stand-off in his day, explained.
“One was that he can kick the ball an absolute mile, it is a bit of a superpower and, two, he has a very good counter-attack game.
“In terms of his kicking, I was amazed how far he could kick it as a young guy and that has just improved as he has got older while his counter-attack is good because he is a big, rangy guy who can get up to speed quickly if running the ball back.
“But more than that, he reads the game very well from 15 and communicates with his wingers and others all of the time so that helps create space and angles for those counter-attacks.
“By the time he was in his final year at school [2022-23], he was the captain of the Under-18 first team that I coach and he was really good at that because, as I say, he is a good communicator while he had the respect of his peers.
“He was made Scotland Under-18 captain that year too [for the Six Nations Festival in Dublin] and since he left school, we have kept in touch.
“A long-term shoulder issue and other injuries have meant that since the summer of 2023, things have been a bit ‘stop-start’ for him in the Edinburgh Rugby Academy and with the Scotland Under-20s, but he is now coming into his own.”
“Jack's got bags of potential”
The head coach of the A squad this week is Scotland assistant coach Pete Horne.
He is being assisted by Steve Lawrie from Edinburgh and Pete Murchie from Glasgow Warriors and they are all excited to see how Brown, who has played some games for Watsonians in recent years, does in this environment.
“Jack's got bags of potential,” said former Scotland stand-off/centre Horne. "That's clear for everyone to see and he's been in the system for a while now and everyone's been really excited about him.
"I remember last year we had a kind of mixed Academy team that were playing against the Black Lion from Georgia.
“Sadly, Jack wasn't fit to play, but he was still coming along and trying to help out wherever he could. Straight away you are thinking; 'There's a kid with a great attitude.'
“He's had all his injury frustrations which have set him back, but it doesn't seem like it's affected his confidence.
“Any time he's been in training with us or had an opportunity with the 20s, he seems to have grasped it with both hands. He's a big, strong, physical man, so there's certainly a lot of physical potential there.
“We, myself and Gregor Townsend, have watched his recent A games for Edinburgh at length when we were trying to make a call on this selection.
"There's another few good young lads coming through as well, for example, Fergus Watson [Glasgow Warriors] was unlucky to miss out. He's another really talented kid.
“But we decided to go with Jack as, we thought, especially against Ealing recently, that he played really well and defended really well so I’m looking forward to him getting a run at the weekend."
Full caps Stafford McDowall, Arron Reed, Matt Currie, Ross McCann, Ross Thompson, Jamie Dobie, Jamie Bhatti, D’Arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Ewan Johnson, Freddy Douglas, Ben Muncaster and Ben Healy are in the Scotland A matchday 23 for this clash.
They are joined by under-20 caps past and present Gregor Hiddleston, Tom Dodd, Harri Morris, Mikey Jones, Fin Richardson, Jare Oguntibeju, Liam McConnell, Ben Afshar and Brown while this is Mosese Tuipulotu's first Scottish representative match.
Scotland A squad to face Chile at 6pm on Saturday at Hive Stadium: Arron Reed (Sale Sharks); Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby), Mosese Tuipulotu (Edinburgh Rugby), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors, C), Ross McCann (Edinburgh Rugby); Ross Thompson (Edinburgh Rugby), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Gregor Hiddleston (Glasgow Warriors), D’Arcy Rae (Edinburgh Rugby), Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh Rugby), Ewan Johnson (Oyannax), Tom Dodd (Edinburgh Rugby), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby), Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby). Subs: Harri Morris (Edinburgh Rugby), Mikey Jones (Edinburgh Rugby), Fin Richardson (Glasgow Warriors), Jare Oguntibeju (Glasgow Warriors), Liam McConnell (Edinburgh Rugby), Ben Afshar (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby), Jack Brown (Edinburgh Rugby).
