BROWN TAKES WING AND LIFTS THE LID ON QUINS MELTDOWN
MIKE BROWN is talking about putting pride back in the shirt as the clock ticks down to Harlequins’ new season.
Vowing to right the wrongs of a failed campaign is not new, but rarely has it been expressed with such feeling.
When Quins take on Sale at home today, it will be their 11th Premiership fixture of 2018. They lost nine of the first 10, leading to job losses and collective humiliation.
“Everyone was mentally shot when we left last season,” admits England’s most-capped full-back. “We were a group of men putting everything in, but we had broken bodies and broken minds.
“Confidence was gone, mentally we were all over the show. You try everything to get yourself out of a slump, but when you are that low mentally, nothing comes off.
“You try and keep it simple, that doesn’t work. You try too hard and that’s even worse.”
Brown had enough on his plate with England, who were going through a similar slump.
He was dropped as Eddie Jones’ team lost five in a row, then recalled out of position on the left wing.
But compared to life at Quins, he found the England environment a “breath of fresh air”. “I wasn’t enjoying my club rugby at all,” Brown added.
“The last two years have been tough. Like really tough. Going away with England felt like the only place I could express myself – and be myself.” London Irish pipped Quins to relegation, despite hammering them 35-5 at the Stoop. Boss John Kingston quit and a crisis meeting was called. “Everyone was hurting and the emotion came flooding out,” Brown recalled. “It was pretty honest stuff. We were all down in the dumps.”
Paul Gustard left his role as England defence coach to head up the salvage job. One of his changes sees Brown move to the wing – for the first time in a club league game since 2006. Few imagine Quins, English champions as recently in 2012, turning fortune on its head.
Only a fortnight ago Glasgow stuck 50 points on them and Brown conceded: “There’s a lot of bad habits from a good few years we have to get rid of.”
With a £50million stadium plan in the pipeline, Quins can ill-afford relegation. And with promoted Bristol spending big, there is every chance an established name will go down.