Mike Brown (rugby union)

Mike Brown
Personal information
Full name Michael Noel Brown
Date of birth September 4, 1985
Place of birth Southampton, Hampshire, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) [1]
School(s) attended Peter Symonds College
Wyvern College, Salisbury
Club information
Position(s) Full-back, Wing
Current club Harlequins
Youth clubs
YearsClub
Salisbury RFC
Melksham RFC
Senior clubs*
YearsClubApps (points)
2005–Harlequins244 (405)
Representative teams**
2007–England37 (30)
* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only and
correct as of 24 January 2015.
** Representative team caps and points correct
as of 21 March 2015.

Mike Brown (born September 4, 1985) is an English Rugby Union player who plays fullback for Harlequins and the England rugby team. Due to stiff competition from Ben Foden and Alex Goode for the 15 jersey during the 2012 and 2013 seasons Brown has also played on the left wing for England.

Career

Brown made his First XV debut for Quins during the 2005/06 season, scoring a try on debut in the pre-season friendly against London Irish on August 12, 2005. He was part of the England Under 21 team that won the 2006 Six Nations Grand Slam and also competed in the Under 21 World Championships later that year.

In the 2006/07 season, although still in a part of Harlequins' Academy side, he established himself as first choice full back. A standout season by Brown resulted in him collecting 9 tries, earning him a place on the Sky Sports Dream Team.

Mike had a successful 2010/11 season with Quins, culminating in winning the Amlin Challenge cup, beating Munster at Thomand Park on the way to the final against Stade Francais. This form continued into the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership season, resulting in a call up to the EPS squad.

An admitted fan of rugby league, the Harlequins rugby union has issued a statement on its website stating that "Mike Brown stays with rugby".[2]

Internationals

In the 2006/07 season, although still in a part of Harlequins' Academy side, he was capped by the England Saxons in the first two matches of the year.

Brown got selected for the 2007 England rugby union tour of South Africa. Unaffected by a severe incident of food poisoning within the England camp, Brown picked up his first full England cap in the record 58–10 defeat to South Africa. Brown was called into the England Saxons side that defeated Ireland A on 1 February 2008.[3][4][5] On 1 June 2008, he started for England against the Barbarians at Twickenham in an uncapped match. On 14 June 2008, he started for England in their 37–20 defeat to New Zealand.[6]

Brown vied with Ben Foden for the England full-back spot in 2012, coming off the bench in the victory over Scotland at Murrayfield. He spent the 2013 Six Nations playing on the left wing with Alex Goode taking the number 15 jersey. He was finally picked at fullback by Stuart Lancaster and was subsequently named England's Man of the Series following his form during the 2013 QBE Autumn Internationals. Brown scored his first try for England in the 2014 Six Nations Championship match against France on 1 February 2014 and his second came a week later in a comprehensive 20–0 victory against Scotland.[7][8] He then scored two tries and was named Man of the Match for the third time in the tournament in the 52–11 away win over Italy in Rome. In recognition of Brown's form throughout the 2014 Six Nations Championship, he was selected by the general public for the 2014 RBS Six Nations player of the championship award.[9]

International tries

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  France Saint-Denis, France Stade de France 2014 Six Nations 1 February 2014 Loss 26 - 24 [10]
2  Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 2014 Six Nations 8 February 2014 Win 20 - 0 [11]
3  Italy Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico 2014 Six Nations 15 March 2014 Win 52-11 [12]
4  Italy Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico 2014 Six Nations 15 March 2014 Win 52-11 [13]
5  New Zealand Dunedin, New Zealand Forsyth Barr Stadium Tour of New Zealand 15 June 2014 Loss 27-28 [14]
6  Samoa London, England Twickenham Stadium 2014 Autumn Internationals 22 November 2014 Win 28-9 [15]

References

  1. ↑ "Harlequins 1st XV". Harlequins. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Mike Brown stays with rugby". Quins. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  3. ↑ "England Saxons squad for Ireland A match". RFU. 2008-01-23. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  4. ↑ "Varndell shines in Saxons victory". BBC. 2008-02-02. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  5. ↑ "Mike Brown and England Saxons". Quins. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  6. ↑ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - New Zealand v England at Auckland, Jun 14, 2008". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  7. ↑ "Last gasp try breaks English hearts". ESPN. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "England ease past pointless Scotland". ESPN. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "England's Mike Brown named as Six Nations Player of the Championship". Guardian Online. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Tom Fordyce. "Six Nations 2014: France 26-24 England". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  11. ↑ Tom Fordyce. "England 20 - 0 Scotland". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  12. ↑ Tom Fordyce. "Six Nations 2014: England hammer Italy and wait on Ireland". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  13. ↑ Tom Fordyce. "Six Nations 2014: England hammer Italy and wait on Ireland". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  14. ↑ Ben Dirs. "New Zealand beat England 28-27 in second Test to seal series win". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  15. ↑ "England 28-9 Samoa: Home side earn first autumn win". BBC Sport. 22 November 2014.

External links