Nick Cain talks to England full-back Mike Brown about his remarkable transformation

Mike Brown is England’s torch-bearer, but one with a difference. He is the man at the back, rather than the front, who lights up the way. He is the full-back adventurer who stokes their fire in attack and whose fiercely competitive spirit burns so brightly that it ignites the self-belief in his team-mates. It explains why Brown, who landed two of the most prestigious awards in the game this season, the Six Nations Player of the Tournament and the PRA Player of the Year, is now hailed as world-class.
The transformation in attack, with England scoring 14 tries in the Six Nations,  including four from the fullback, is why Brown has become indispensable to the outside chance of England scorching New Zealand on their own turf in this three-Test summer series.
Brown does not hedge his bets on the field, and the 28-year-old Harlequin sticks to a similar policy as he assesses England’s chances of upsetting the world champions and putting down a 2015 World Cup marker.
“If we can come away with positives from this tour, some wins, it will hold us in good stead for this massive season coming up. There is still over a year to the World Cup, so a long way to go, but psychologically it would be massive for us to come down here and show what we are about – and, hopefully, come away with a couple of wins and a Test series.”
Brown says that if he is perceived as a talisman for England because of his angry man persona when he pulls on the white shirt with the red rose that’s fine, because it’s second nature.

“Being competitive is something that I’ve always done naturally – that’s what I’ve been about since I started playing the game. Obviously, you are a bit more reserved in training and can’t be quite as full on, but once you get out there in a match it’s all guns blazing. That’s how I am, and that’s how I like to play to get the best out of myself.”
However, Brown knows better than most that England have handicapped themselves severely by accepting an itinerary which left them denuded of all the players in the Premiership final – about half their starting line-up – for the crucial first Test. But he is resolutely upbeat as he fields questions in the squad’s Auckland hotel, dismissing talk of anxiety.
“There’s too much work to be done to worry about who’s here and who isn’t, and the guys getting their first opportunity are massively excited. We’re massively up for it, although we respect what New Zealand have achieved as a team.”
Brown has plenty of personal motivation in the locker, too, given that his first and last trip to New Zealand, in 2008, ended in a 2-0 series defeat and off-field ‘Club 18 to 30′ antics which backfired badly. It finished with him being fined by the RFU for alcohol-fuelled misconduct although exonerated from an erroneous charge of involvement in a sexual assault.
With just three caps to his name it led to four years in the international wilderness during Martin Johnson’s managerial tenure, including missing out on the 2011 World Cup.
Ask Brown about the differences between the 2008 regime, with Rob Andrew as a care-taker manager, and the one that exists now under head coach  Stuart Lancaster, and he maps out a sea-change.
“It’s massive – poles apart. The foundations, the culture, everyone pulling in the right direction. We’ve got better coaches around, and all the players are here on merit, and all working for each other. It’s a great environment to be part of. You can see the improvements in organisation and in the standards in training, both from players and coaches. We are in a much better place than we were in 2008.”

Brown says he vowed to himself he would make amends: “It took me a long time to get back where I wanted to be in the England set-up. There was a lot of soul-searching – whether I was good enough to get back, and could I still do it? But I had that main goal of working hard, and that gave me the best chance of achieving what I wanted to. I also had the support of coaches who backed me all the way, and told me I could do it. You learn from those experiences, and are better for them. They made me the player I am today.”
There are two further factors he points to in changing the England landscape, one collective and the other personal. He says the new culture Lancaster has introduced connecting the current squad with England’s rugby history has born fruit.
“There are things now that I never thought of for a second when I first pulled on the jersey back in 2007-08. You see the names on the wall now, and you think about the heritage. For instance, we’ve got different awards within the squad for our defensive systems, like those named after Micky Skinner or Arthur Harrison. It’s great to have that connection and bigger meaning.”
Brown has been his own hardest task-master, and, having been typecast as a full-back who lacked the speed to be Test class it is well-documented that he set about remedying it by doing extra training with sprinting coach Margot Wells, the wife of the 1980 Olympic Games 100 metres gold medallist, Allan Wells.
Asked how he has changed his game at full-back to reinvent himself as one of the most dangerous, elusive line-breakers in the game, and initially Brown says, “I can’t put my finger on one thing. It helps when you have gained more experience, and also it helps playing the style we do at Harlequins.”
However, ask him about what WelIs has done and the explanation flows.
“I’m working as hard with Margot Wells as I ever did. I go to see her three times a week, and I am lucky at Quins that they let me do that. I go on Monday for a heavy leg session and weights, and then I go on my day off, usually a Wednesday, for a power session, and then we meet sometimes after the team run on a Friday just as a sharpener.”

Brown adds: “I was always elusive, but she’s involved in improving everything really. Whether it’s power – forward or to the side – strength, speed, or going up for the high ball, she’s always changing things to make sure that you are ready and prepared for the opportunity when it comes.”
Brown says he’s surprised that Margot hasn’t been grabbed by a national coaching set-up – but relieved too. “In a way I’m very happy because I get her all to myself. She will do big things for anyone she works with. I’ve never worked with anyone like her, the way she picks up on things to do with your body. People think it’s just about speed with her, but she also helps you with injuries. She can see the little detail if you are not moving quite right, and suggests exercises to put it back right.”
He continues, “There have been times this season when I’ve had niggles that would have stopped me from playing if it hadn’t been for her. She has so many different sides that people do not see.”
Brown says that although he loves the cameraderie of the England and Quins squads he does not consider working one-to-one with a coach of Wells’ calibre to be a lonely vigil. “Sometimes the best training sessions are when you are on your own. Because you are in a team environment all the time sometimes it’s good just to be able to do your own thing – to have a chat with Margot, or with the other guys who come down.”
As for fatigue, Brown says that although the demands of a Northern Hemisphere season are long and tough, he is ready for the New Zealand tour. “I’ve been looking forward to it from the start of the season. I know how I feel, and I feel better than I did this time last season… coming to play the best team in the world gets you going again, and I’m feeling good.”
Brown says that the two awards have added to the feel-good factor:  “It’s great. They are really prestigious awards. A lot of quality players have won the Six Nations award, putting in unbelievable shifts every week…past players like Brian O’Driscoll, and to be alongside them is a great feeling. But, obviously, I’d have loved to have swapped that for an actual Six Nations trophy.
“The RPA award is voted for by the guys in the EPS who you do battle with every week. It is very special. Their opinion probably counts the most because the wool is not pulled over their eyes – they play alongside you, or opposite you, and they know the hard work that goes in.”
However, he says the business at hand with the All Blacks means that the accolades are not uppermost in his thoughts. “When I have a few weeks off in the summer to reflect I’m sure I will be extremely proud.”
Next on the Brown agenda is dealing with an All Black back three which he rates very highly.
“They are special players who can pull out special moments in a game. Israel Dagg is probably the best full-back in the world over the last three seasons in terms of what he’s achieved in his levels of performance year in year out. I’ve also been greatly impressed by Cory Jane, and when we beat them in 2012 he showed he was an awesome player. We have to go up against them, and show what we are about.”
With Brown coming back at them all guns blazing, it should be some shoot-out.