Brown embracing Emerging Scotland experience

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 23: Scotland's Jack Brown at full time during a friendly match between Scotland A and Chile at the Hive Stadium on November 23, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Edinburgh Rugby full-back Jack Brown has had a busy last month, being involved in Scotland A’s victory over Chile and he’s ready for more time in an international jersey.

Reflecting on the A game, where he trained against the international squad who were preparing for their Australia Test, he said: “It was unbelievable, it was a really good week. I was quite surprised when I got the call, and then just to get some minutes at the end was really good. It was a difficult end seeing out the game, but it was a great week and I was very happy.

“Training with the boys you watched growing up was class, seeing how they go about their week is so good to be a part of. Lads like Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham are unbelievable so picking up what they’re doing and taking the learnings on is really important.”

Tickets for the Emerging Scotland fixture against Italy Under-23s on Saturday are available HERE.

Even before the A game, Brown was no stranger to the Scotland jersey, having already captained Scotland U18 and represented the U20. Taking these opportunities in his stride, he sees them as a chance to learn from senior players and take his findings back to Scotland U20 should he be involved for the Under-20 Six Nations at the start of next year.

He said: “I’ll be prioritising thinking about the U20s and taking these experiences, the small things I’ve learned from the more senior guys and trying to help the boys around me at U20s and just driving standards really, making sure we can have a good Six Nations and then a good campaign when it comes to the summer.”

Brown is also involved in the National Academy, a pilot programme where the best young talent in Scottish rugby get the opportunity to be coached by Gregor Townsend and the rest of the national team coaching staff. It meant that the back three player was no stranger to Pete Horne when the A team call-up came.

“It’s been really good, getting to spend time with the coaches obviously means you know them a bit better, how they like to do stuff and how they see the rugby side of things. Being in the National Academy means you already know some of the things they’re trying to teach you when you come in for games like this, it’s not all new stuff you’re learning so it’s easy to build on.

Brown was one of a number of players involved in the Scotland A side who were yet to make their professional debut in the club game. Since that match against Chile, Jare Oguntibeju, Fin Richardson, Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas, who made his Scotland senior debut the week before against Portugal, have all gone on to represent their clubs in the United Rugby Championship. For Brown, he knows that this week represents another chance to impress as he pushes to make a first senior appearance for Edinburgh Rugby of his own.

“It’s brilliant, it’s probably not the usual way it’s done to play internationally before at your club but we’ve all really enjoyed the opportunities we’re getting so early on in our careers. Hoping it just keeps building and we can use it as experience going forward.”

To view the Emerging Scotland squad, click HERE.