Thirty days after his England World Cup exclusion, Mike Brown talks Treviso, Te'o and Eddie Jones
Mike Brown could have easily ducked out of Wednesday’s new-season Gallagher Premiership launch. Thirty days after it was confirmed he was not in Eddie Jones’ England squad for the World Cup he could have let sleeping dogs lie and got on with the daily routine that now revolves around Harlequins.
The 34-year-old is not that type of guy, though. There he was seated at a round table at Twickenham’s Spirit of Rugby facility talking precisely about that – the spirit of rugby. For now, there would be no full disclosure. Not when he considers himself to be still on standby for a Test call-up if an injury arises in Japan.
Some time in the future, when the dust has properly settled, he insists the shackles will come off and he will definitely tell his side of the mysterious story about what precisely happened that fateful week in Treviso. The damaging allegation was that he and Ben Te’o got involved in an altercation that contributed to them being excluded from the Test squad for the August 11 game against Wales, the day prior to the World Cup squad announcement that neither were chosen for.
Did what occurred in Italy mark the end? Brown couldn’t say for certain. “We’re not in Eddie’s head, so we don’t know what cost me selection, or whether I was going to get selected, whether I was close or whatever,” he said at what was the day’s most attended interview at the Premiership launch in London.
“It’s not right at the moment (to go into detail) because I don’t feel comfortable talking about it. I’ll speak about it in my own time, but the people who are close to me know the details and that’s most important for me.
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“For me I think it’s right to say that it’s not the right time to go into full details of what happened. I always try to stick to the team ethos and it wouldn’t be right for me with the guys preparing for a World Cup, Eddie and the players, to start talking about things that went on during the pre-season.
“It’s more important for them to focus on what they are doing. But obviously the World Cup won’t last forever, so there will be a time and a point where I feel comfortable and the time is right to speak about what my experiences were.
“It’s important that the people close to me and who matter in my life, my family and my close friends, my team-mates, they know what happened. And for everyone else, the details will come out when the time is right… when the details come out people will know how everyone in that situation handled themselves. And I’ve got no regrets.”
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What Brown does confirm is that there has been no contact with Te’o since Treviso and this his own gut-wrenching let-down by Jones was delivered by telephone. “No. He’s in France, isn’t he?” he replied when asked had he spoken to Te’o before moving on to address the issue of being released by Jones.
“His message to all of us players is ‘be ready because you never know what’s going to happen’… I think everyone who was in the 45 who isn’t in Japan is on standby, that’s my understanding.
“I was in the 45, I have no regrets about anything that happened through pre-season because I gave my all. I came into camp in the best shape of my career, felt fit, sharp, good. I put everything I could into training, I didn’t miss one second of training, even with niggles and things like that.
In the 2019 Six Nations, nearly half of England's tries came from counter-attack. A revived ability to score in transition was part of their return to form, writes @bensmithrugby https://t.co/evLNvZ3115 #rwc #rugbyworldcup #england
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 10, 2019
“I’m not sure how many other players could say that – I did every second, every minute of every session when I was in camp. But it didn’t go my way. Eddie’s the boss, so who are we to argue with his selection? But I’ve got no regrets.
“I still feel I’m the best English full-back, that’s not being arrogant. That’s just what I believe… look at the stats, look at my game, I am the best under the high ball. I’ve worked so hard on that, it’s one of my points of difference.
“I don’t need people to tell me if it is or it isn’t, I know it is. I made it one of my points of difference and that’s what I hang my hat on,” he continued, insisting he hasn’t thought about retirement from international rugby on the back of his RWC exclusion.
“Oh, I’d never do that, that’s not what I’m about. I feel you could be any age but if you’re at the top of your game, why shouldn’t you be playing? I feel that people like LeBron James, Roger Federer, I’m not saying at all that I’m at their level, but they are getting on a bit but are still at the top of their game.
“I would say it would take a brave head coach to pick me because I’m sure there would be a massive backlash with me, being the player I am and being older. I feel as soon as you get past 30 you are over the hill. I do think that. I think that’s the perception of people in professional sport.
“It’s obviously heartbreaking to miss out, you want to put things right from 2015. You want to be involved in the exciting things coming up. I’ve worked hard my whole career to be involved in these big tournaments.
Prem Rugby Launch well under way ??
New season, new kits, same big name stars ? pic.twitter.com/O3WpkDfzG6
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) September 11, 2019
“I still feel I’m the best full-back for England. If I didn’t feel that I would have stopped playing for England. But like I said, selection is one man’s choice, and he’s the main man with that job. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way this time.”
Picking up the pieces has been considerably assisted by the approach of Paul Gustard, his boss at Harlequins. “I’ve been going a long time now but I’ve come back into Quins, and credit to Paul with the way he’s handled me. It’s been great.
“Firstly with the disappointment, secondly with managing me with the support. He gave me a week off last week and that’s the first time I’ve had time off over my birthday, so it gave me a chance to go away with the family. So that’s refreshed me and now I’m looking forward to the season and, like everyone else, just desperate to play some rugby,” he continued before adding that he expects England to go well in his absence.
England settling into the way of life in Japan with Steve Borthwick providing an update on Joe Launchbury https://t.co/zQiIsCfzjo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 11, 2019
“I can’t see why not. They’ve had a good pre-season in training, I’ve seen that. They’ve played pretty well. It’s going to be a close World Cup, probably the closest ever.
“South Africa are looking good, New Zealand may not have played to their best but they will be different when they reach the World Cup. Then teams like Ireland and Wales, you never know because they are tough competitors who can turn it on on their day.”
WATCH: The RugbyPass stadium guide to Sapporo where England will open their World Cup campaign against Tonga
Comments on RugbyPass
Also, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to comments