I made my first Scotland start alongside my cousin in Six Nations - it was a special moment

It was no great surprise that Gregor Brown’s girlfriend and family were at the Stade de France to watch him make his first start in the Six Nations for Scotland on Saturday night but what was unusual was that the forward also had his cousin alongside him on the pitch.

It was the first time that Brown and Blair Kinghorn had started a match together and was a particularly proud moment for their mums, Jane and Karen, who are sisters.

“It was my first start with Blair and it was really special,” said Brown, who had come off the bench in Scotland’s previous four Six Nations matches and was then given the nod to start against France. “It's obviously special for both of us playing together but probably more so our family, with both our mums seeing us both on the pitch at the same time. Being the younger cousin it's something that I was kind of aiming for and for that to come true it has been very special.”

Cousins Gregor Brown and Blair Kinghorn with friends and family after they started together for the first time for Scotland, against France in Paris. | SNS Group / SRU

“My mum, dad and my girlfriend Amy were there and it was massive for them, being able to come out. They came down to Twickenham as well and they're a big reason why I want to play well and seeing them after the game and that's really special.”

Brown, 23, and Kinghorn, 28, weren’t able to prevent Scotland going down 35-16 as France pulled away in the second half to secure the victory they needed to clinch the title.

Nevertheless, it’s been a notable first Six Nations campaign for both players. Kinghorn has been nominated for the player of the tournament award while Brown has established himself in the squad.

Having played a part in all five of Scotland’s championship games the last seven weeks have been a steep learning curve for the Glasgow Warriors player who made his Scotland debut against Canada during last summer’s tour of the Americas, then played in the autumn Tests and won his ninth cap at the weekend.

“There’s been a lot of differences coming into Test match rugby and I'll put my hand up and say I'm still coming to grips with a few of them,” he said. “Confidence-wise, from the first couple games in the autumn to the first couple games of this campaign, I definitely feel like I've grown and adapted my game to suit Test match rugby because it is a little bit different. There’s a lot more on the line at every play and the small mistakes that you'd get away with at club level, you don't really get away with here so I'm really pleased with the experience I've picked up and being able to learn from all of that.”

Gregor Brown runs out at the Stade de France for his first Six Nations start for Scotland. | SNS Group / SRU

Brown, 23, has also been adapting to playing in the second row. As recently as late December he was saying that back row was his primary position but Franco Smith and Gregor Townsend have pushed him towards lock and the faith shown in him by his coaches at Glasgow and Scotland has rubbed off.

“Yeah, I'm kind of feeling like I can play both now,” he smiled. “Obviously I’ve played flanker most of my professional career up until the last couple years but I can hopefully show that I’m someone that can play in both those positions and hopefully that kind of adds value to my being involved.

“I'd say that in the past years the learning curve has been unreal in the second row and I still feel like I can do a job in the back row if needed and hopefully will at some point.”