Townsend also pointed out last week that No 8 is one of a position where he doesn’t have as much depth to choose from. Jack Dempsey is very clearly his first choice but it is unclear at this stage whether he will be available for the 2027 Six Nations due to his move to Japan for next season. Meanwhile, Matt Fagerson has got used to playing No 6 for club and country in recent years but is comfortable right across the back-row and initially came to prominence packing down at the base of the scrum, while Edinburgh’s Magnus Bradbury would appear to be the next cab off the rank, although he has been capped only five times by Scotland during the last four seasons with his solitary start being against Tonga in November 2025. After that, the cupboard looks pretty bare.
“Six, eight then four,” smiled Brown, when asked his preference of the positions he has played recently, before quickly stressing that he is happy to fit in anywhere required.
“I’ve come off the bench for Glasgow covering 8 before, but I don’t think I’ve ever started or played more than 20 minutes there, so there was a lot of learning [last week],” he continued. “Demo [Dempsey] and Maggie [Bradbury] were really helpful, so I kind of just tried to nail the things that were a little bit different and then just go out and play my game.
“There’s controlling the ball at the back of the scrum and a little bit more running moves off the back of line-outs, which is different because I’m usually in there doing the line-outs. Then there is taking kick-offs deep and I got a pretty good smack on the first one actually, so that was a good start! So, it’s just little things like that but once you get into open play it’s the same game whatever the number is on your back.
“I just think it allowed me to get on the ball a little bit more, probably quite a lot more actually, and sort of just bring the things that I enjoy. It was definitely new. I enjoyed it, although it takes a bit more out of the legs.”
Speaking after the match, Townsend suggested the future of the Brown to No 8 experiment could now depend on how much game-time he’ll get there for Glasgow, who have lost Dempsey but still have Fagerson, Macenzzie Duncan, new-signing Ruwald van der Merwe and potentially Ally Mller as options in that position.