The family connection for Gregor Brown and the desire for further success over England
Gregor Brown is set to face England for the first time this weekend
©Scottish Rugby
Seven years ago, Gregor Brown watched on television as his cousin Blair Kinghorn made a memorable Scotland debut off the bench in a win over England.
And now the family members are looking to team up and help their country get a similar result this weekend.
Back in 2018, Kinghorn came on for Tommy Seymour in the 65th minute and helped the Scots see out a 25-13 triumph at Murrayfield.
Since then, Scotland have had a stellar record in the fixture having won the last four meetings and they have lost just one of the last seven while Toulouse back three man Kinghorn, now 28, has had an excellent Scotland career with 57 caps now to his name.
And, in recent times, younger cousin Brown has joined him in the national team squad, the second-row/back-row having now earned six caps since a debut in Canada last year off the back of helping Glasgow Warriors to URC glory in 2023/24.
"I remember watching my cousin Blair Kinghorn versus England back in 2018,” 23-year-old Brown told TRU.
“I was in a Scotland under-17s training camp on the day Blair made his debut. I remember watching that one on the television in a hotel somewhere in Stirling, post-training session.
“He came on for the last 15 minutes and we won that day and that's when Finn [Russell] was throwing those ridiculous passes to Huw Jones and they were coming up.
“To see Blair make his debut was class and spurred me on. Our mums are sisters. He's someone that I've looked up to for a long time.
“I was still at school when he left school and started playing for Edinburgh and then watched him play for Scotland. To then go over to Toulouse and do such great things has been huge. It was always a dream to play with him for Scotland.
“I remember playing against him at an 1872 Cup a few years ago which was cool enough as it is, but to play with him against Italy and Ireland so far in this year’s Six Nations after him not playing my first few Tests was such a huge thing for both of us and our families.
“It was something that I thought was going to happen in the Autumn, but then I got injured against Fiji and it was pretty upsetting so to do it recently at Murrayfield was cool.
“When we were kids, I lived up in Aberdeen and he was down in Edinburgh, but I'd say we were close cousins.
“As he is a few years older I used to message him about a few things rugby-wise or early on in my career given that he was someone who'd been there and done that and that was huge for me.
“He is someone I feel really comfortable speaking to about different things. Playing away in a Calcutta Cup together would be unreal, it would be huge for our families.”
‘I really back my physicality’
In terms of his rise to this level, Brown, a Robert Gordon’s College and Gordonians product who spent time in Nigeria and Egypt during his childhood as well as Aberdeen, admits he is still learning all of the time.
However, the former age-grade cap has impressed many with his displays for Glasgow and Scotland over the last 18 months or so.
And he has adapted well to the role of second-row having mainly played in the back-row growing up.
“It's definitely a position you have to learn,” he explained.
“As a back-row, I do feel the lineout is one of my strengths. For me, it's been adding to that as a second-row. Things do get put under a bit more of a microscope as you're lent on a bit more.
“It's not something that's wearing me down. I think having the exposure at Glasgow in some pretty big games this season at second-row and coming on in the URC final at second-row last season has helped me. It's been really good for me learning-wise.
“I'd say it definitely took a lot of work shifting my focus towards different things. Now I'm pretty lucky I'm at the stage where it's just about keeping adding. It's learning more smaller building blocks now rather than learning the basics of playing in the tight five.
“I think that I'm probably a little bit smaller than most second-rows, but I really back my physicality and what I probably lose a bit in size I hope that I make up in dynamism.”
‘It's been really good being in Spain’
Over the past week, the Scotland wider training squad has been in Spain at a training camp.
They will fly into London today [Thursday] ahead of Saturday's meeting with England at Allianz Stadium Twickenham where they'll be hoping to bounce back.
The Scots defeated Italy in Round One of the Six Nations before a loss to Ireland in Round Two, so Gregor Townsend's troops simply must win this game on the road to keep any championship hopes alive.
As a result, Spain has been a good place for them to refocus and Brown stated: “It's been good being able to get a week of good weather training on grass.
"It's also been really good being in Spain in the sense of breaking up the Six Nations and getting a bit of a change of scene.
“Getting all the boys out here and spending a lot more time together has given us a lot more time for things like one-on-ones with coaches, little walk-throughs and catch-ups.
“It's a fantastic facility here. We've got a great rugby pitch, a really good gym, the hotel is really nice and there are great recovery facilities as well.”
