If you told Gregor Brown at the start of last season that he would end the campaign as a British and Irish Lion then he probably would’ve told you to get out the pub.
And that’s ironically exactly where the 24-year-old received a phone call with the incredible news that was beyond his wildest dreams.
After starring for Scotland against Samoa at the iconic Eden Park, Brown was enjoying a few beers with his team-mates to celebrate the end of the summer tour and the end of an arduous campaign.
Brown was preparing to return to Scotland until an unexpected phone call arrived from Lions - and Scotland - forwards coach John Dalziel. The rest is history.
It was a whirlwind few days for the Glasgow Warriors star as he flew to Australia on Sunday before debuting for the British Lions against the First Nations and Pasifika XV on Tuesday.
Brown played almost half an hour from the bench, and he opened up on the heartwarming story for the first time after an unforgettable summer.
“Yeah, it was mental,” admitted Brown.
“Last season as a whole personally was huge for myself. I got injured in the Bulls game at home, I did my knee and and from then it was [about] just trying to fight to get back fit to get on on that Scotland summer tour.
"To be fit for the first game was big but then I unfortunately picked up a head knock in that game but I was available to play Samoa.
“I really wanted to end the season on a high playing for Scotland and it was such a great win to finish off a great tour. We were celebrating the end of the season when I got a phone call from John Dalziel.
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"He was asking if I was out having a few drinks, which we were and he told me to probably just go back and try sober up.
"Then I spoke to Andy [Farrell, Lions head coach] and it was just a mental few days.
"He asked me to come in and cover for one of the boys, who got injured and it was kind of a pinch me moment, the whole way through.
“Just going in, meeting everybody but it was such a short turnaround. I think we were in on Sunday night trying to learn all the plays and all the lineouts on the Sunday night.
"It was the captain's run on Monday, we played Tuesday night. I still can't really believe it to be honest like when I look at the cap or the jersey and that it still just doesn't feel real.”
Brown’s Lions jersey from his debut at the Marvel Stadium is now proudly displayed in his house and it’s a moment that he will never forget.
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He said: “I've actually got them framed as it was something I was meaning to do for a while. I've got my Scotland debut, my URC final jersey and my Lions jersey framed. It's nice to have them, like I'm not big into things like that but I think those three occasions were huge. When I retire, I'll look back at them with huge pride.”
Representing the British and Irish Lions capped off an incredible 12 months or so for the versatile Warriors forward.
Brown featured as Glasgow won the URC in Pretoria and made his first Six Nations start against France in Paris, before sharing a dressing room with some of his rugby heroes.
He admitted: “It might be embarrassing to say but I'll say it anyway, I grew up watching loads of these [Lions] players.
“Guys like Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Tadhg Beirne. When I was younger, I remember there was a Lions DVD video on the 2013 Australia tour and I remember we all were watching that.
"Just being there, around them and even though it was a short time, just to be chatting to everybody and being around all these great players. It’s hard to put into words and they were all so welcoming.
"Another name is Owen Farrell, as someone who was so helpful it just felt weird being around such superstars of the game.”
Brown was in disbelief when he first received the news and didn’t initially tell his partner or family until Glasgow and Scotland team-mate Ollie Smith spilled the beans.
“It was funny because it was quite late at night when I got the phone call. I went home as I had to sort out some admin stuff for the visa to get into Australia and I didn't tell anybody. I was just like 'I didn't really know if this was like a real thing or not' but I was actually with Ollie Smith when I got the phone call.
"So I didn't tell anyone but he told his girlfriend, who then told my girlfriend actually and I still didn't really know what was going on.
"So I just texted my family group chat saying I was going out to help out with training and stuff because I honestly still didn't know if I was going to play or not.
"It ended up being such a great experience for them as well.”
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