Kelly Brown named Scotland captain for England tie

SCOTT Johnson may appear to have a touch of flamboyance about him and has a way with words, but after confirming Kelly Brown as his first captain, Scotland’s interim head coach insisted that he wanted “do-ers rather than talkers” leading his side.

Brown will lead the Scots on to the pitch for the RBS Six Nations opener against England at Twickenham on Saturday, although he will have to prove himself in the job before Johnson commits to making him captain for the whole championship.

Despite Scotland’s poor run of results after he took charge for the autumn Test series, Brown was always expected to retain the captaincy. The Borderer is a popular figure with management and players. As a leading performer in the Aviva Premiership with Saracens, Brown is also widely respected across Europe and one of the few players certain of his Scotland place.

Asked why he liked Brown’s more subtle character, Johnson, a former Australia coach, said: “In my experience if they are the callers [lineout or backs move callers] and play a dominant role and their thing is not going well then it is harder for them to get everybody together collectively. I like someone who sits outside that...who can be clear in his eyes.

“I have gone down this path before and some can do both. I worked with some great captains like John Eales, George Gregan and the like. I have sat on the sidelines and watched Martin Johnson who I thought was a great leader of men. But what is common among all these people is that they did not say a lot but they did a lot. I like that as a model. Some players can get caught up being demonstrative for the crowd and I don’t want that. That does not represent Scotland and that does not represent what I want from the team.”

Scotland will name their team to face England today.