Daily Mail

CAN’T KEEP BROWN DOWN

He’s crucial to England’s World Cup plans, says Quins chief

- By NIK SIMON

HARLEQUINS coach Paul Gustard believes Mike Brown and Danny Care should still be indispensa­ble to England’s World Cup plans.

The pair were dropped during the autumn internatio­nals as Eddie Jones looked to add new blood to his ranks.

Together they have 156 caps and Gustard, who left his role as England defence coach during the summer, is predicting a comeback in 2019.

Quins face Exeter at home tomorrow night and Gustard says his senior pair are desperate to prove themselves to Jones once more.

‘They’ve both got a burning ambition to be involved in the World Cup and that works in Harlequins’ favour,’ Gustard told Sportsmail. ‘ You want those guys.

‘Mike was on all the England tours that I was involved with and almost 70 Tests on the run. He’s got determinat­ion and fight. Danny’s got over 80 caps but he’s come back energised.

‘If they don’t perform for an extended period of time then Eddie won’t pick them, but their attitude has been first class.’

Brown and Care have experience of World Cups and Gustard believes that gives them an upper hand in the selection battle. ‘The World Cup is a different animal to a Test series,’ said Gustard.

‘You have to live together for an extended period of time. If you go to a Six Nations, it’s eight weeks together. You’ve got to elongate that for another three months for a World Cup campaign.

‘In that kind of environmen­t, you want guys who have been to World Cups before. Even if Eddie doesn’t see them as starters, which is his choice, these two guys have around 150 caps of experience. They’re the most capped players in their position in the country.

‘ There’s a huge benefit to taking Mike and Danny over guys with four or five caps.

‘They’ve got talent, they’ve got ability and they can do things differentl­y to the other guys in the England fold. Success leaves clues and every single World Cup, the winners have a certain age and caps profile.’

Meanwhile, Bath are interested in signing Quins prop Lewis Boyce.

The 22- year- old loosehead, who was called up by Jones last season, is out of contract after the World Cup.

Bath coach Todd Blackadder said: ‘I’m not going to confirm or deny. There’s always going to be speculatio­n out there around people who are contracted and not. Until it’s signed on the dotted line and we have it in our hands, there’s no response.’

 ?? AP ?? National service: Brown shows his love for the shirt
AP National service: Brown shows his love for the shirt

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom