QUINS MUST DO THEIR TALKING ON THE PITCH
MIKE BROWN says it is time Harlequins let their rugby do the talking after a poor start to the season.
Quins have led the criticism of Saracens in the wake of their London rivals being busted for breaching the salary cap.
But while Chris Robshaw, Danny Care and former boss John Kingston have all stuck the boot in off the pitch, the club has failed to deliver on it.
Just one win from the first four rounds of the Premiership leaves the city slickers languishing in the bottom three.
Quins hope a new competition will bring a change of fortune – though they start their European Champions Cup campaign tomorrow at French giants Clermont.
Brown said of Saracens: “It’s okay to have your say but you’ve also got to back up your end and do the job.”
Asked what the team expected of itself this season, he added: “Definitely not what what we’ve put out the last couple of weeks. That hasn’t been us at all.” Brown
QUINS SLOW START Exeter (a) 22-19 Bristol (h) 22-17 Northampton (a) 40-22 9 Worcester (h) 14-19 concedes that for a club of Quins’ stature, a failure to ever reach the semi-finals of Europe’s top competition is “definitely” not good enough.
“We’ve been guilty before of just being happy to be part of the European Cup,” he said. “We don’t have that mindset with our squad any more. We’re in it to do things.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard to get back in this cup and we’re desperate to win things but we need to hit the ground running in what is an incredibly tough fixture.”
Quins, who also share Pool 3 with Bath and Ulster, are 100/1 long shots to conquer Europe.
The odds on Brown reclaiming his England shirt at the age of 34, after a pre-World Cup ‘altercation’ which saw him and Ben Te’o dropped, might not be much better.
“Never say never,” said the nation’s most-capped full-back, who did not even watch the World Cup final.
“There are plenty of athletes around the world who are over 30 and doing amazing things. All depends who’s in charge, I guess, and what players are available.”