Peter Brown, who has died aged 83, captained the Scotland rugby union side 10 times and led his country to three victories over England inside the space of a year in the early 1970s.
Playing in the second row or at No 8, Brown was, unusually for a forward, an excellent goal-kicker, and in the first of those wins, in the Five Nations Championship at Twickenham in March 1971, he converted his own first-half try to put Scotland ahead. But England staged a comeback, and after Chris Rea touched down in the dying seconds the game hinged on a final conversion effort by Brown, who sent the ball over to give Scotland a dramatic 16-15 win.
A week later at Murrayfield, in a match to mark the centenary of international rugby, Scotland won again against England under Brown’s leadership as he scored another try in a more comfortable 26-6 victory. Returning to Edinburgh for the Five Nations the following year, he presided over a further triumph, in March 1972, as he contributed a try and three conversions in a 23-9 win.
He was unique in captaining Scotland to three consecutive victories over the Auld Enemy, and Brown’s prowess as a kicker gave him 67 international points from 29 matches between 1964 and 1973, making him the all-time highest scoring forward for his country. His 15 penalties and six conversions were delivered with an idiosyncratic kicking routine, in which he would turn his back on the goal, wipe his nose on his shirt and then boot the ball with a low trajectory through the posts.
An unorthodox, larger-than-life figure, Brown had an ungainly gait charging around the field and was known as “the man on the coat-hanger” on account of his exceptionally square shoulders. He also had an infectious self-belief and a carefree, irrepressible nature that conveyed itself positively to the players when he became skipper.
Away from amateur rugby he used that upbeat outlook to great effect in a parallel business career that culminated in the chairmanship of the Scottish Building Society and made him a noted motivational speaker.
Peter Currie Brown was born on December 16 1941 in Troon, Ayrshire. His father, John, was a professional footballer who won the Scottish Cup with Clyde as a goalkeeper in 1939. But Peter’s school, Marr College in Troon, only played rugby, so he channelled his energies into the oval-ball game, showing enough talent to represent Glasgow Schools, with whom he played alongside the future England cricket captain Mike Denness.
After finishing his secondary education, Brown qualified as a chartered accountant before moving with his new wife, Jill, a physiotherapist, to the Scottish Borders, where he played for Gala RFC in Galashiels, having previously turned out for the West of Scotland club in Milngavie. His international debut came at the age of 22 against France at Murrayfield, in a 10-0 Five Nations win, and he played his second match at the same venue in an extraordinary 0-0 Test draw against New Zealand.
At the back end of his Scotland career Brown appeared on occasion with his younger brother, Gordon, who was also a second-row forward and who became a much admired British and Irish Lions player on three successful tours during the 1970s. Peter was invited to take part in the 1971 Lions trip to New Zealand, but he had only recently taken up a new job as an accountant with Hogg & Thorburn in Galashiels and felt unable to commit to so much time away.
His last match for Scotland was in April 1973 against a President’s XV at Murrayfield, in which, still as captain, he bowed out with a 27-16 win. At Galashiels, where he was also skipper, he went on to become a selector and committee member.
He maintained his connections with international rugby as a long-serving member of Scottish Rugby’s disciplinary panel across three World Cups, and as an independent discipline commissioner for the Six Nations and European Cup competitions.
Away from the game Brown rose to be a senior partner at Hogg & Thorburn, where he remained until retirement in 2004. Chairman of the Scottish Building Society from 1993 to 2003, he also served as a non-executive director of Edinburgh Risk Management, an insurance broker firm. An entertaining character, he was in demand as a public speaker in the corporate field and on the after-dinner sporting circuit.
Peter Brown, born December 16 1941, died January 12 2025
Article courtesy of
Source link
