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'As soon as you step outside, you're absolutely dripping with sweat... you're constantly feeling incredibly hot'

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Everything can change in a few weeks in rugby. Just ask England’s Mike Brown. It was thought on July 4 his international career was on the scrapheap. Done and dusted. Past tense. Eddie Jones had just named a 38-strong official World Cup training squad and the name of the Harlequins full-back was nowhere to be seen.

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Without a cap since England’s June 2018 win over South Africa in Cape Town, it wasn’t a massive surprise he had slipped down a pecking order where 2017 Lions Test series player Elliot Daly has emerged as the preferred No15.

In an increasingly younger man’s game, Jones was happy to turn a blind eye to the vast experience Brown could bring to the party as a 33-year-old veteran with 72 caps.

Here’s the rub, though. Nothing is nailed on in the ways of the English coach and Brown’s July epitomises this. From being left to stew on his own at the start of the month, he was thrown the lifeline of inclusion for a week-long camp in Bristol.

Then came selection for the ongoing 12-day warm-weather camp in Italy and all of a sudden, selection for the World Cup on August 12 is no longer a million miles away. He’s pleased with himself for staying in a fight that had been seemingly lost just four weeks ago.

“You want to be named in all the squads that Eddie announces,” he said about his July 4 omission during a media conference call from Treviso, the northern Italian city where England are based to experience Japan-like humidity as they train.

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“We are all competitive animals so we’d be disappointed and we’d be lying if we didn’t say we were disappointed if we weren’t named. But I have been back in for the last three weeks, training as hard as possible to offer competition for places and also to make sure the team, whoever Eddie picks, is in the best place possible.

“Like I said, I’m a competitive animal and I absolutely love playing for England – it means everything to me. That’s why I work so hard, off the field and on the field.

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“It’s great to be here and I’m trying to show what I’m about and show what I can bring to the team. And also making sure I am competing so that the team are also in a good place for whoever Eddie picks,” he said, adding that he did think his chance had evaporated four weeks ago.

“You have that doubt at the back of your mind, but Eddie said just be ready so I went straight back to Quins and was welcomed with a Bronco fitness test. That was pretty savage. Then I made sure I was ready. I was over the moon to get the chance to come back in and continue.”

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Brown has been through one World Cup pre-season before, the preparation that led to the disastrous 2015 campaign under Stuart Lancaster. Four years on, he sheds light on the differences in the approach under Jones for Japan 2019.

Mike Brown
Mike Brown and Owen Farrell applaud the England fans after the dead rubber 2015 RWC pool win over Uruguay in Manchester (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

“The fitness has been different and a lot more tailored to different positions. It has been hard but off the field, we are getting things right which maybe we didn’t then.”

The purpose of going to Italy was to make England endure Japan-like sweat conditions. Temperatures have been as high as 36°C and humidity percentages have ranged between 75 to 90. Perfect. “We have got through some good quality work in similar conditions that we will face in Japan, with the heat and the humidity. We have definitely been working hard.

“It [the heat] is incredibly tough. It was about 80 per cent humidity Tuesday so as soon as you step outside, everyone starts sweating. You are absolutely dripping with sweat and that makes ball-handling very tough.

“Also, for your core temperature, it’s hard to keep that low because you are sweating all the time. It just sits on your skin and then heats up even more so you can’t get your body temperature down. You are constantly feeling incredibly hot. It is really sunny here as well so just to try and keep your core temperature down is the hardest thing.

“We have got things in place in training to do that, guys coming on and spraying you with cold water, constantly trying to wipe the sweat off you so your skin gets the chance to cool down and things like that,” continued Brown, adding that dealing with weight loss during training is a major issue.

“We weigh ourselves at the start of sessions and then after so you know how much weight you have lost. The nutrition guys make sure you get the right things after training to put that weight on.

Mike Brown gym
Mike Brown looks on during an England gym session in Italy this week (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“For example, our first really hard session here last Wednesday, I lost 3kg of weight, so it’s about getting the fluids back on and eating more after a session. We have protein shakes, protein bars. We have some fruit. Things like that then getting the liquids with proper salts to get the hydration back in.

“In England, I would probably barely lose any weight from a normal session in normal conditions. After a Test match, I would probably lose a maximum of 1kg and that’s playing at the highest level under massive fatigue. So that puts it into perspective, the weight loss that you can get over here.”

England’s Italian job, though, hasn’t been all work and no play. “We have had some good times off the field as well together, making sure we bond and get closer as a team, which is also important going into a World Cup,” confirmed Brown.

“We are getting the balance right at the moment and we are getting through some good quality work… on the weekend we had a boat trip to an island just off Venice, had some food, enjoyed each other’s company on the boat and had a few drinks.

“We have had positional dinners, team drinks – staff and players and just doing little things like that that builds bonds and memories, talking to people you don’t normally get to talk to. You learn a lot about people you don’t spend every day with.”

One player in the England camp Brown knows better than most, though, is the up and coming Alex Dombrandt, the uncapped flanker who was called over to Italy last Thursday to replace the injured Brad Shields.

Eddie Jones drinking
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, takes a drink during training in Treviso on Tuesday (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“I’m impressed the way he has come in at Quins and put his game on the pitch. What’s impressing me at the moment is his consistency at the level he is playing at.

“It is sometimes quite easy to come in and for a few weeks or months, play really well, but he has been doing it for the whole season. He has really deserved his call-up for this camp the way he has played.

“He has looked good in training and not looked out of place at all and, if called upon, I’ve got no doubt he would be ready for the next step.”

WATCH: The latest RugbyPass documentary, Foden – Stateside, looks at how ex-England international Ben Foden, who kept Brown out of the 2011 England RWC squad, is settling into Major League Rugby in New York

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Jon 28 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

32 Go to comments
j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 7 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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