JAPAN WILL BE LAND OF THE RISING, SON
Brown: I want my boy to grow up watching England World Cup heroics, not humiliation
MIKE BROWN has revealed the role played by his baby son in inspiring him to produce his best form.
The England fullback turned in a man-of-thematch display against Wales to keep his team on track for a hat-trick of Six Nations crowns.
Brown credits the birth of Jax for focusing his mind on getting to next year’s World Cup in Japan – in order to erase the memory of England’s 2015 flop.
“You want him to grow up and be proud of what you’ve done,” said the feisty Harlequins star. “I don’t want him watching the 2015 World Cup.”
England became the first tournament host not to survive the pool stages, leaving Brown so gutted he wrote a letter of apology to fans.
By playing in 23 of England’s 25 matches since – tasting defeat only once – he is doing his bit to repair the damage.
Yet still he has his critics and over the weekend Eddie Jones (right) accused the media of jumping “on the bandwagon” by praising his performance after, supposedly, castigating him unfairly.
Brown admits he takes a lot of “abuse” on social media, telling Land Rover Rugby: “Everyone has their views on the way you play or the player you are, which is fine.
“But it’s when it becomes abusive, you think, ‘Is there any need for that?’ We’re all humans. It’s just a game of sport. Eddie’s message to me is to be myself.
“When he made me vicecaptain he said, ‘Don’t change, be yourself ’.
“It’s great to have someone like Eddie, who’s always keeping you on your toes. The only noise you listen to is from him. He’s the only one that matters at the end of the day.
“When I’m on the field he wants me to be aggressive, be decisive in my counter attack, do things that maybe set me apart from other players.”
However, Brown insists his self-styled Mr Angry persona is “clearly” not the person he is away from rugby.
“If I was I’d be absolutely exhausted,” he said. “At home I’m super-relaxed. My missus says to me a lot that she doesn’t recognise the person she’s seeing on the TV at the game.
“I don’t think it’s anger, it’s competitiveness. It might come across as anger to some people, but it’s my way of showing how much I care.
“That’s the way I get the best out of myself.”