Gregor Brown says playing for Scotland alongside cousin Blair Kinghorn “was always a dream” ahead of the Calcutta Cup showdown with England at the Allianz Stadium.

The pair – related by virtue of their mothers being sisters – played together for the first time in the Scots’ Guinness Six Nations opener at home to Italy earlier this month, when versatile Glasgow forward Brown, 23, came off the bench in the second half.

After doing likewise against Ireland last time out, Brown hopes he and 28-year-old Toulouse player Kinghorn – who could be shifted from full-back to the wing if Darcy Graham fails to recover from a head injury in time – can play their part in a fifth consecutive victory over the Auld Enemy on Saturday.

“Blair’s someone I’ve looked up to for a long time,” said Brown, who won the first of his six caps against Canada last July.

“I was still at school when he started playing for Edinburgh and then watching him play for Scotland and going over to Toulouse to do such great things over there has been huge.

“It was always a dream to play with him for Scotland. I remember playing against him in the 1872 Cup (in May 2022), which was cool enough, but to play with him was such a huge thing for both of us and our families.

“It was something I thought was going to happen in the autumn, but then I got injured which was pretty upsetting, so to do it (against Italy and Ireland) was really cool.

“It would be huge, again, for our families, playing together away in a Calcutta Cup, it would be unreal.”

Brown has been inspired by the rise of Kinghorn, who is now an established starter for Scotland and playing for one of the top clubs in world rugby.

“I lived up in Aberdeen and he was down in Edinburgh, so we’d just see each other at family events, but I’d say we were close cousins,” Brown said.

“I dropped him a message about a few things rugby-wise. Early on in my career, having someone who’d been there and done that in the family was huge for me, just being able to know I could reach out and ask questions and get his advice.

“Especially now, he’s such an experienced player and a real calm head around the squad. He’s someone I feel really comfortable speaking to about different things.”

Brown described his memories of watching Calcutta Cup matches as “a bit of a blur” but the one that does stick in his mind is the February 2018 showdown when Kinghorn marked his Test debut by stepping off the bench in a 25-13 win at Murrayfield.

That result kicked off the current Scottish purple patch of five wins in seven meetings with the English.

“I remember watching that because I was in a Scotland under-17s training camp on the day that Scotland played England,” said Brown.

“I can remember watching that one in a hotel somewhere in Stirling post-training session. Blair came on for the last 15 minutes and we won.

“That’s when Finn (Russell) was throwing those ridiculous passes to Huw (Jones) and they were coming up. To see Blair make his debut as well was class.”