Former Scotland captain Peter Brown dies aged 83

NEWS: Former Scotland captain Peter Brown has died aged 83, with current national coach Gregor Townsend saying his exploits on the field had “gone down in legend”.

Brown’s family announced he had “passed away peacefully” on Sunday after being admitted to an Edinburgh hospital following a fall at home earlier in the week.

He had been suffering from cancer for several years.

Known as PC, because his forenames were Peter Currie, Brown won 27 caps for Scotland, 10 of them as captain, between 1964 and 1973.

Capable of playing at lock of No, 8, he was also a goalkicker, an unusual role for a forward of that era, and it was his last-minute conversion of a try by Chris Rea that gave Scotland a 16-15 victory over England at Twickenham in 1971.

Brown’s father was a Scotland international football goalkeeper and his younger brother Gordon, who died in 2001, played alongside him in 12 rugby Tests for Scotland as well as being capped eight times by the British and Irish Lions during the 1970s.

Peter Brown’s tally of 66 points for Scotland remains a record for a forward and he also enjoyed five wins over arch-rivals England.

“His exploits on the field have gone down in legend, being a key contributor in some Scotland famous wins during his international career,” said Townsend in a statement.

“A goal-kicking captain playing in the forwards must have been a unique achievement before Jon Eales did something similar with the Wallabies a few decades later… He will be sadly missed.”