DESPITE gossip linking Fraser Brown with a summer move away from Glasgow Warriors, the hooker has committed to extend his time at the club which rescued his career for another three years.

"Whenever your contract comes to the end and there’s the possibility to have a look somewhere else, you’d be silly if you didn’t at least explore your options," he admitted.

"I still believe my best rugby is ahead of me and I believe Glasgow is still the best place for me in terms of achieving that, because we have great players, great coaches and great fans.

"Family is also important. My parents live just off the west coast. My wife and I are happy and we are well looked after here at Glasgow. We play a great brand of rugby and, ultimately, you’ve got to enjoy what you do."

His commitment, through to the summer of 2023, by which time he will be approaching his 33rd birthday, comes at a perfect time for Glasgow as they prepare to launch their Heineken Champions Cup campaign against Sale Sharks on Saturday with Brown certain to be at the heart of the scrum battle – one of the areas the English visitors to Scotstoun will try to dominate.

"Europe is a box that definitely needs to be ticked, we’ve only reached the quarter-finals twice in our history," he added. "For a club like ourselves who are consistently up at the top end of the domestic league, you can’t hide the fact that European competition has been a little bit of a failure.

"As a group, we know the best way to get respect in Europe is to do well in that competition. Every year we target it. Like a lot of teams, we’ll look to reach a minimum of the knockout stages and then take it from there."

For Brown, it turned out to be a bit of a no-brainer that he wanted to stay at Scotstoun with a lengthy list of reasons to back his decision – one of the key ones being that he feels still he owes a debt of gratitude to Glasgow who, at the age of 23, offered him a second chance to play professionally after recovering from a long-term neck injury.

"I feel this is my second career, a second lease of life for me as a professional rugby player," he said. "I’m forever indebted to Gregor [Townsend] and Shade [Munro, the coaches when he was offered his first contract in 2013] when I came but the Glasgow family as a whole – the club, the players, the fans – have taken me in.

"I hope that [late start] will help me – just as long as I stop getting injured. I firmly believe that my best rugby is ahead of me, so it’s all about working hard to achieve that.

"Dave [Rennie, in charge at Glasgow] and the other coaches, they’ve added something to my game over the past couple of years that I maybe didn’t necessarily think I needed. You can see just how much they want to improve you as a player all the time.

"Staying fit and keeping on improving are key to, hopefully, playing for a good while longer."

After all, for a front-row player, 30 is still considered young and the World Cup worked out well for him with involvement in every game, including starting against Russia at flanker and winning the starting spot in the final match, against Japan.

He has every reason to feel confident about his immediate prospects, though he is also old enough to be taking steps to secure his future after his playing days are over with an Open University history degree and coaching qualifications being added to his repertoire.