Ex-All Black calls on England to select 'devastating' Mike Brown
All Black Nick Evans believes Mike Brown has turned himself into an attacking force Eddie Jones must include in England’s World Cup squad in Japan despite the Harlequins full back having missed out on Six Nations action.
Brown is stuck on 72 caps having been dropped for England’s November tests with Elliot Daly at No.15 as England beat South Africa, Japan and Australia but lost to New Zealand. Despite being included in this year’s Six Nations squad, Brown was unused with Jones opting for Chris Ashton, Jack Nowell, Joe Cokanasiga, Henry Slade and Ben Te’o as the back three cover from the bench in the five championships matches.
Patently, Jones was looking for something different and that has seen Brown work to improve his attacking game to supplement the rock like defence and expertise under the high ball. As a result, Brown finished the regular Premiership season as the top offloading player in England and even made more yards in attack (1188) than Saracens Alex Goode (1167).
One of the sticks used by critics against Brown was his inability to link with his fellow backs, preferring to take contact and set up a ruck which makes the 37 offloads he delivered for Quins this season such a game changer for Evans, the club’s respected backs coach.
Evans, who is adamant Quins can still showcase even more of Brown’s attacking threat, said: “What separates Mike from others is his work in defence, under the high ball, the off-loading and the competitiveness we all know he has.
“I hope he goes because he deserves it and offers something different. In a World Cup that is what you may need. Mike is not just a defensive minded full back and I have never believed he was and I played with him for nearly 10 years. Fans and other coaches have pigeon holed him as that but off-loading is a strength in his game.
“He often beats the first tackler because he is slippery and can accelerate away through contact. We have been working to get him more involved in the wider channels and if you look at Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson you can see that Eddie Jones likes that kind of player with added pace.
“While Mike may not have that pace, he is one of the most devastating strike runners off set piece and I will hold my hand up and say that we haven’t used him as often as we should from scrums and line outs. He is such a strong ball carrier and runs great lines with subtle little changes.
“He is a champion bloke who wants to get the best out of himself and we have been working really hard on all aspects, particularly attacking play because that’s where the questions were coming. No one questions his ability under the high ball or as the last man in defence and for me he has been one of the players of the year for Quins. He has been a leader in the backs and all season Mike has been brilliant and that is credit to the work he has put in.”
Evans dismisses the argument that Brown should not be picked because he doesn’t offer the same attributes as rival full backs and there is considerable debate over Goode’s inability to break back into the test arena.
“They are different players and people say “oh, he doesn’t do this like Daly or Watson” but they don’t do what Mike does. It comes down to one man’s opinion and that is Eddie Jones and if he has a view of what he wants then it can be hard to sway that.”
Brown will celebrate his 34th Birthday on September 4 with England facing their opening Cup pool match with Tonga in Sapporo on September 22 followed by the a trip to Kobe to take on the USA just four days later. Brown has just eight replacement appearances in his 72 caps and four of his test were during England’s failed 2015 World Cup campaign where the team suffered the ignominy of failing to get out of their pool as the host nation.
England faced another “Pool of Death” four years ago on home soil and defeats to Wales and Australia destroyed their chances of glory and in Japan they take on France, Argentina, USA and Tonga.
A key indicator of where Brown figures will be the make-up of the England squad to face the Barbarians on 2 June . That squad – which will be overseen by Jim Mallinder not Jones – will be made up almost entirely of players who will miss out on World Cup training squad selection.
Comments on RugbyPass
Mark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
9 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
3 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
9 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments