'He used to go off at players like Marland Yarde all the time, little nicknames, little comments to try and wind him up'
Mike Brown has been remembering what life used to be like when he was in England camp under Eddie Jones, the coach who ultimately dropped him from the squad in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup following an altercation with teammate Ben Te’o at a training camp in Italy.
The 35-year-old, who won his last cap when England played South Africa in Cape Town in June 2018, was reminiscing about his career when appearing with veteran Wales midfielder Jamie Roberts on the latest RugbyPass Offload.
Brown recalled the mental stress Jones used to put his England players under from the second they would arrive in for duty, meeting them for one-to-ones and then going on to relentlessly test them throughout the week.
Even when away from England camp, Brown revealed that Jones always kept players on their toes with a constant flow of communication. Sometimes messages were even sent to his phone while he was on the pitch playing for Harlequins, another example of the methods Jones employed to get the best from his players.
“It’s bloody tough, mentally and physically. He’s on you the whole time,” said Brown, who was recently linked with a move away from Harlequins to Gallagher Premiership rivals Newcastle. “Even when you are not in camp you see his name flash up on your phone.
Mike Brown joins Christina and Jamie to chat through his career ups and downs, including what it's like to play under Eddie Jones ?
He also spoke on the disappointment of getting knocked out of a home World Cup and much more!
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“You see it after games for your club, his name flashing up and you look at when he has messaged you and it’s during a game. You just dread it when he rings or he texts because you are worried about what he is going to say. And then when you are in camp it’s literally non-stop from when you wake up in the morning to when you go to bed at night. He is always testing you, especially mentally, little messages here and there, little comments passed in the corridor, things in meetings, testing you on knowledge.
“That is why England have got to where they have got to because they have someone like him leading the way and testing players and keeping them on their toes so that they can perform at the highest level but it is tough. Physically as well, training is brutal. You have to train like that, you have to prepare like that if you want to achieve things as a national team at the highest level of the game.
“In camp, you just want to keep your head down, stay under the radar. When you turned up to camp you would always have a one-on-one with him as soon as you got there and that would be the most nerve-wracking thing, everyone queuing up outside his office.
“He used to go off at players like Marland Yarde all the time, little nicknames, just on him the whole time in training, just little comments to try and wind him up, things like that. And I guess it is just him testing those guys out, seeing if they are ready for the step up, see how they react under pressure. Sometimes it works, sometimes guys just can’t handle it at all and then you don’t see them ever again.”
Asked to outline a specific mentally challenging incident, Brown recalled the build-up to one particular Sin Nations match. “I remember a game against Italy coming up and there was a lot of chat in the press whether he would try guys out.
“I had played regularly under him so whether guys like myself would be moved out just to try other people, he caught wind of that and he brought me in his office for a one on one. He chucked down this piece of paper. I didn’t look at it but he was, ‘Why the F are you worrying about the team? You should be focusing on training well. Here’s the flipping team but it can change’. I didn’t look what team was written down.
“It probably had nothing written down but it made me go away and just focus on the session but then he called me back the next day and said, ‘I can see you moping around, you’re not doing what I want’. I actually thought I had trained pretty well but he was just trying to test me, see how I would react.
“It definitely geed me up for the rest of the week and wound me up. It made me pretty angry, made me want to show him that wasn’t the way I was thinking and really get ripping and stuck into training.”
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"He thought the tackle potentially could have broken his leg… his whole career flashed in front of him"
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Comments on RugbyPass
I think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to commentsHis value is stabilizing the ship 20 - 40 minutes out from the final whistle plus his valuable experience to the underlings coming through.
10 Go to comments