At the age of 28, Mike Brown has spent his entire career at Harlequins, coming through the academy and making over 200 appearances for the club to date. During this time he has been seen as a “steady” player, however over the past two years he has had a prolific rise and a somewhat cutting edge has been added to the dynamic fullback’s game to cast away this unwanted label. He has never been zero, but now certainly is deemed a hero among many England fans.
Mike Brown breaks the stereotype of the privileged upbringing and private education that many of the English team have had; he himself admits to coming from humble beginnings. He attended Peter Symonds College, and then went onto Wyvern College, which aren’t recognised rugby establishments. So, Brown has always had to work hard for the success that has come his way.
He established himself at Harlequins in the 2006/07 season whilst still a young man and at the back end of his academy days, by having a solid season and really rooting down the starting berth at fullback for Harlequins. Subsequently this was the first year he got an England call-up, for the Saxons. He drifted between the Saxons and the elite squad over the next two seasons, most notably appearing for the elite squad on the 2007 tour of South Africa (the famous camp food poisoning epidemic) and furthermore the defeat to New Zealand in 2008.
Ben Foden and Alex Goode have always been stiff competition to Brown, and at some point in time each of them has had a consistent time in the starting 15 shirt for the national side. Foden had the upper edge in 2012, whilst Goode broke through in the 2013 Six Nations starting at fullback. Brown spent the campaign on the left wing; which is a credit to his diversity as a player to hold off competition from wingers by trade. Stuart Lancaster finally picked Mike Brown at fullback for the Autumn test series in 2013, which led to him being named man of the series, and he has nailed the fifteen jersey down ever since.
The reason he has been immovable in recent times is simply an evolution of his game, through sheer hard work that has made him the complete player. He has always been solid defensively and in his positioning on the pitch. Furthermore he has played on the wing which proves therefore he is prolific in attack and can beat defenders. He is now showing this by consistently being top of the carries list in games he plays. Additionally, further proof is in Brown’s first try for England against France recently in the Six Nations, which was followed by four more for his country. This is helped more by the fact Harlequins are very attack-minded and complement Mike Brown’s style of play, or vice versa; therefore Brown is free to play how he wishes and showcase his skills with full confidence from Connor O’Shea. The final part of his transformation has been his kicking game, he has always had a substantial left boot but now it can be used to tremendous effect in terms of delicate positional kicking to really give his team the best attacking position possible (or, alternatively, to clear the lines to relieve pressure).
Therefore, his rise to dominance over recent times hasn’t been because of a dramatic overhaul in his style of play, but through a constant determination to improve. Brown knows what he is capable of, and now has the confidence to play in a way to utilise these skills he has always possessed.
Being 28, he is now arguably in his prime. He has matured and is in scintillating form. If he can stay injury free, no doubt he will be essential to England in the World Cup in 2015. England are blessed with many gifted fullbacks, who would be more than capable if given the opportunity; the likes of Goode, Pennell and Foden to name a few. Some would say it’s a shame Nick Abendanon never got more of chance but we will seemingly never find out due to his move to Clermont. The point is, Brown has been almost faultless with every performance since being given the opportunity and has rose to every challenge, and at this current time, no one would be better suited to England’s 15 jersey. He’s truly Mr Consistent.
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