Scotland star Fraser Brown is hoping Twickenham success runs in the family

Twickers success on the cards for Fraser?

Fraser Brown hopes Twickenham success runs in the family.

The hooker could be promoted to the starting line-up against England next Saturday if Ross Ford fails to recover from the back spasm that forced him off during the dispiriting loss to Italy.

And, unlike most Scots, he’s got happy memories of the stadium in south-west London.

“I’ve been once. My brother captained Yorkshire Under-20s when they won the County Championship there so my family’s actually won at Twickenham,” laughs the 25-year-old.

It’s a rueful laugh as Scotland haven’t won there since 1983, the longest losing streak in Championship history.

“I wasn’t born then so the weight of history isn’t daunting for us, the fact we haven’t won there in so long. It’s not something we think about,” says Fraser.

“For me it’ll be the first time I’ve played England at international level and it’s just another game. Every away game is going to be daunting, every international game is daunting.

“It’s going to be a big test but we don’t look at it with this history behind it, that we haven’t won there for 30-odd years.

“We’ll just prepare as if it’s another away game, knowing we have to play near our very best to make sure we get a result there.”

Brown’s now established as Scotland’s back-up hooker, a far cry from his shock first cap in the summer of 2013 when he came

on against Italy after just 44 minutes of professional rugby for Glasgow.

“Obviously I was massively honoured to be capped but I like to think that I get things by earning them. I felt like I hadn’t earned it,” he admits.

“I played a couple of games off the bench for Glasgow then went on holiday for two weeks, came back and got the phone call from Gavin Scott to say I was joining the tour.

“That’s why the New Zealand game in the autumn was probably more special than my first cap as I felt I had been picked on merit rather than the circumstances.”

It’s actually amazing he’s here at all as shoulder and neck injuries saw the former Under-20 captain released by Edinburgh without having played a game.

He quit rugby altogether before his love of the game tempted him into a season in the back row for Heriot’s, from where Gregor Townsend signed him on a training contract when injuries thinned Glasgow’s hooker options.

Brown doesn’t know if he’d be in the squad had he not walked away. But he says: “That year of having a bit of time out and then playing at the club just cleared my mind.

“It made me realise that if this was something I wanted to do, I would have to work really hard to get there.”