Trailblazer Brown aiming to hammer down on Italy

SAM PARKHOUSE talks to the England flanker who’s no stranger to international competition

ENGLAND rugby’s gain is a loss to the Commonwealth Games team as fire fighter Shaunagh Brown gets set for her Six Nations debut after switching from the GB athletics team.

Brown, the Harlequins flanker who threw the hammer for England in the final of the Glasgow Commonwealth games, has enjoyed a swift promotion to the elite squad just two years after her first ever club match for Medway, all the while continuing her career in the fire service.

Brownis told TRP: “I was inspired to play rugby after learning that former England captain Maggie Alphonsi was attempting to go to the Rio Olympics as a thrower. I wanted to prove it could be done the other way around.

“I toyed with trying for the Commonwealth team again, but I am now definitely out of athletics”, says Brown, who reached the top in discus and hammer and also had a pro boxing bout.

“I believe I am the first ever professional fire fighter to have been selected for England. The elite contract means I get a match fee and I am now at international camps rather than waiting to be invited to attend, but I still have to work for a living,” added the 27-year-old.

Brown has impressed at Harlequins and is now determined to play her part in the Six Nations, beginning with Italy.

"Overall in the Six Nations we want to win it and whether that means me only getting five minutes at the end of a game, then so be it. All I can do is do my best, work hard and learn the England way.”

England coach Simon Middleton has been hugely impressed and gave Brown her first cap in England’s 79-5 thrashing of Canada in the autumn. She is named as part of a squad in transition as following their defeat to New Zealand in the summer’s World Cup final, a core group now focus on sevens meaning Middleton has had to look for new faces.

England won the title last season and the head coach is demanding the same again. He said: “Shaunagh has earned her place through delivering consistently outstanding performances in the Tyrell’s Premier League.

“We are under no illusions around the challenge of playing Italy. They are very skilled and unpredictable side in their style of play, with a strong pack and good set piece.

“But our goal is to win the Six Nations.”

England captain Sarah Hunter is expecting tough competition but wants silverware after the disappointment of losing to New Zealand: “Every time we come into a competition, teams will raise their game.

“We know it will be a fierce competition but we’re excited – we want to take the women’s game to a new level.