Summer is a tour too soon for Brown

ANDY Robinson will be without Kelly Brown as a player and potential captain when Scotland go on tour this summer. They kick off with a game against Australia on 5 June and follow that with matches against Fiji and Samoa.

Brown had been set to captain Scotland for the Six Nations campaign this year before injury ruled him out and he revealed at the weekend that the three-Test series would also come too soon for him.

Brown, talking at the Melrose Sevens, where his Saracens side lifted the trophy, said: “I phoned and spoke with Andy [Robinson] last week and said it’s going to be too soon [to tour]. It’s a shame because I’m desperate to get back – I absolutely love playing for Scotland and it feels like I have not done that for a really long time. Having said that, I am using the time off well. I’m working hard and I’m determined to come back even stronger and fitter.

“I’m not going to put a date on it but I would hope to be back by the start of next season.”

“I’ve been training hard and as soon as I got the chance, I knew I would love to come up to Melrose with a team – and it’s been great.”