Scotland hooker Fraser Brown to retire from rugby after a decade at the top

Glasgow Warriors player who suffered serious knee injury calls time on playing career

Brown, who has not played this season due to a serious knee injury, has decided to bow out after over a decade at the top level. He played for Scotland at the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and was part of the Glasgow side which won the Guinness Pro12 in 2015, defeating Munster in the final in Belfast.

His last game was playing for the World XV versus the Barbarians at Twickenham on May 28 last year during which he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, one of sport’s most dreaded injuries. Brown, 34, had hoped to come back from it and underwent an operation last summer which involved a tendon graft followed by months of rehabilitation work. However, he has now taken the decision to call time on a career which also saw him captain Scotland.

His Test debut came as a replacement in the victory over Italy in summer 2013 in a quadrangular tournament in South Africa and he quickly established himself in the squad, playing in all five Scotland matches at the 2015 World Cup as they reach the quarter-finals. He won his 50th cap in the home win over France in the 2020 Six Nations and his final campaign at international level was last year's Six Nations when he was part of the Calcutta Cup-winning team.

Fraser Brown, who is retiring from rugby, played 61 times for Scotland between 2013 and 2023. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

In total, he made 141 appearances for Glasgow after making his debut against Zebre in February 2013. His final appearance for the Warriors came in last season’s European Challenge Cup final against Toulon in Dublin.

Brown has already taken the first steps into coaching. He is head coach of the semi-pro Watsonians team which is currently competing in the FOSROC Super Series Sprint, having worked as an assistant with the club last year. He was also part of the coaching team for the first ever Glasgow Warriors women’s side which competed in the Celtic Challenge this season.

An intelligent and insightful voice in the game, Brown has worked regularly in the media in recent years, writing a column for The Scotsman and being employed as an analyst for the BBC during their coverage of the Six Nations and other internationals.