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Robbed: Mike Brown won't debut for Newcastle versus Harlequins
By Liam Heagney
Mike Brown won’t be making his Newcastle debut versus Harlequins this Sunday as an injury has robbed the veteran ex-England full-back of the opportunity to take on his old club in the opening round of the 2021/22 Gallagher Premiership season. A rib injury picked up in last weekend’s pre-season win at Edinburgh has unfortunately sidelined the Falcons summer signing.
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His absence will be a real pity as it was a reunion that had been much spoken about ever since the fixture list for the new season was published during the off-season. Nathan Earle, the other former Harlequins player who has joined Newcastle for the new term, had last week told RugbyPass: “They say it [the fixtures schedule] is random but as soon as they saw Mike Brown leave Harlequins they probably went, ‘Right, where has he gone to?’
“They set this up straight away because you know how he is, he is the most competitive man I have ever met and he will be champing at the bit – he will be properly excited for that game. He had that interview where he felt the way he was told he wasn’t being kept on was quite unjust. Brownie loves to prove everyone wrong and I’m sure he will do when he gets the opportunity.”
That chance for Brown to put one over his old team will now have to wait until later in the season in the return fixture at The Stoop. Newcastle, though, have still chosen an XV that should ask questions of the defending champions in the opening round of the London club’s title defence.
Logovi’i Mulipola will make his 50th appearance for Newcastle while ex-Leeds Rhinos player Iwan Stephens, the son of ex-Wales union international Colin, will make a debut on the wing in a backline that also features Adam Radwan, the new England cap who scored a hat-trick of tries on his international debut in July. Harlequins, who now have Tabai Matson at the helm as head of rugby, give club debuts to Jack Walker and Tommy Allan.
"They actually asked me that in my second interview"
– Tabai Matson was put on the spot by Harlequins in a five-round interview process, the London club wanting to know what he made of them when head coach at Bath#PremRugby #Harlequins #NEWvHARhttps://t.co/DaqgW2fSaB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 15, 2021
NEWCASTLE: 15. Tom Penny; 14. Adam Radwan, 13. Ben Stevenson, 12. Pete Lucock, 11. Iwan Stephens; 10. Brett Connon, 9. Louis Schreuder; 1. Logovi’i Mulipola, 2. George McGuigan, 3. Trevor Davison, 4. Greg Peterson, 5. Sean Robinson, 6. Philip van der Walt, 7. Will Welch (captain), 8. Carl Fearns. Reps: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Marco Fuser, 20. Connor Collett, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 George Wacokecoke.
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HARLEQUINS: 15. Tyrone Green; 14. Louis Lynagh, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Tommy Allan, 9. Danny Care; 1. Santiago Garcia Botta, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Simon Kerrod, 4. Matt Symons, 5. Dino Lamb, 6. Tom Lawday, 7. Jack Kenningham, 8. Alex Dombrandt (capt). Reps: 16. Sam Riley, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Craig Trenier, 19. Hugh Tizard, 20. Archie White, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Huw Jones, 23. Luke Northmore.
"I was actually at Pennyhill Park on Tuesday. I was looking for him and I saw his wife and his little dog. We get the odd message." @SDLegion @ChrisRobshaw on Eddie Jones, life post @EnglandRugby & @Harlequins and the BaBas fiasco, writes @heagneyl ???https://t.co/daJ8J1EYFn
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 16, 2021
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Well done in putting Eddie's stats into perspective Nick. I'd like to see the try/phase stats after discounting tries from rolling mauls and intercepts. Reminds me of the story Rocky Elsom once told about how the Edster figured out that scrums only take up an average of 8 minutes a game. Apparently our Messiah thus concluded that the team should only devote 8 minutes to the scrum at training!
Go to commentsYo Nicholas. The crowd at the Roar told me you'd quit and I'd find your column elsewhere. Great to see you're still on the job. I enjoyed this, and and no wonder I missed you. Over at the other place, on the day before you posted this, I commented on the game against the Reds: "Carter Gordon was another interesting player on the field, although his form wasn’t well showcased in the match, which isn’t to say he didn’t play well, only that he didn’t particularly star. I know virtually nothing about CG, and wonder if I’m seeing a tall thin 10 who holds the ball with both hands and likes to tackle, besides everything else … I dare not say who that reminds me of." I was scared of putting the mocker on him, but now you've said it! Are we seeing the ghost of Bernie? Early days, but he's certainly refreshing.
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