When Mike Brown played for Harlequins, he described the fixture against Saracens as our \u201cbiggest grudge match\u201d. He circled it in the diary. It fired him up like no other.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the clubs meet at the StoneX. You would not know it from Brown\u2019s calendar. \u201cThey\u2019re playing when?\u201d England\u2019s most-capped full-back asked. \u201cThis weekend, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Of all the signs of decline at Quins, few should worry supporters of the club more than Brown\u2019s disengagement. During 17 years at the Stoop, nobody cared more for the club.<\/p>\n
He wore the quarters on his front and back, and his heart on his sleeve.<\/p>\n
A relationship severed<\/p>\n
Brown<\/a> is now Sporting Director at Esher, a rugby club less than 10 miles from the Stoop, plying its trade in the fourth tier of the English league pyramid.<\/p>\n The man who made 382 appearances for Quins, winning two Premiership<\/a> titles and epitomising the champion quality in the team at the time, no longer has a relationship with the club.<\/p>\n Despite racking up 281 Premiership matches, a number bettered only by Richard Wigglesworth and Danny Care in the history of what is now known as the Gallagher PREM, he is on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain individuals who are still there that mean I\u2019ve not got a relationship with that great club,\u201d he tells Planet Rugby bluntly. \u201cIt feels I\u2019ve kind of been blacklisted, which is a shame.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels, without getting into too much detail, I\u2019ve been erased from the place.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent months, Brown has put a couple of posts on LinkedIn which have laid bare his frustration at the plight of his former club, who lie third from bottom, a massive 29 points outside the play-off places.<\/p>\n In the first, he spoke, \u201cnot as an angry fan, but as someone who came through the academy & lived this club for nearly 18 years\u201d.<\/p>\n He explained how much the club still meant to him and said it hurt watching it \u201cdrift without clear direction\u201d.<\/p>\n Jake White calls for SA Rugby to \u2018force Springboks\u2019 to play locally as franchises \u2018draw the short stick\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is not about blame. It\u2019s about taking responsibility\u201d<\/p>\n He said it had been coming for a while and that winning the PREM<\/a> against all the odds in 2021 was, \u201cin a strange way, the worst thing that happened as it papered over the cracks.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividuals thought they\u2019d cracked it & an unsustainable environment [was] created.\u201d<\/p>\n Being a passionate man and a deep thinker on the game, he did not stop there. He alleged no clear ownership of direction from the top, saying everything feels reactive, sticky plasters over deeper problems.<\/p>\n He called for the appointment of a Sporting Director, general manager or director of rugby to set a clear vision, asking: \u201cDo we want to win or just entertain?\u201d<\/p>\n He sought real accountability, honest conversations and no hiding. A rebuilding of the fight, edge and standards. And making the academy the heartbeat of the club again.<\/p>\n \u201cHigh performance always starts at the top. This is not about blame. It\u2019s about taking responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Crusaders player ratings: Departing All Black shines in milestone match while fellow international and \u2018unsung hero\u2019 also catch the eye<\/a><\/p>\n Too many cooks spoil the broth<\/p>\n His second post voiced concern over clarity, suggesting there were too many coaching\/management roles. It also questioned the wisdom of appointing a performance director (Robbie Deans) who will spend much of the year working remotely from New Zealand.<\/p>\n Mid-season, he reached out to the club, offering his support in whatever capacity might add value; no agenda, he insists, other than a desire to help. Nothing materialised from the offer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd part of me not having the relationship I\u2019d love to have there is me vocalising that. And getting a bit of backlash about that.<\/p>\n \u201cA number of things I put out there didn\u2019t land very well. Maybe a few of them hit home. But let\u2019s go through it, talk about it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t seem to want to ask why people like myself, or Danny [Care]<\/a> and Ugo [Monye] on TV, are saying what we are. To actually sit down and go through the points.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, they\u2019re happy to go and get a part-time consultant from the other side of the world who\u2019s never experienced Quins or the Premiership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s upsetting for me, and while I still believe at some point I will end up there, I\u2019m at a point where I\u2019ve gone from wanting to be involved in some capacity to getting on with doing my own thing.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they take offence to a small LinkedIn post, I\u2019m like, \u2018Wow. Okay, there\u2019s definitely an issue there, so let\u2019s just leave it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown adds: \u201cI still feel connected to the supporters and have huge respect for owners Charles [Jillings] and Duncan [Saville] but in terms of the club as a whole there\u2019s nothing there at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to be dragged into how I felt when I left, which was a dark, dark place. I\u2019m not going back to that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy to continue the pathway I\u2019m on and, hopefully, at some point, it will take me back there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Spineless and spiteful\u2019 Leo Cullen slammed for Ciaran Frawley call as Leinster boss addresses controversial selection<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the level of rugby \u2013 that I envisaged getting into\u201d<\/p>\n So it is that Brown is found on days like this, manning the phones. Esher missed the relegation play-off by a single point in National League 2 East after beating Sevenoaks in their final game.<\/p>\n It was way too close for comfort, and the man who took charge mid-season is bent on assuring he has a stronger squad to guard against any repeat.<\/p>\n In some ways, I almost think this level is harder than elite sport,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have the access to people, you don\u2019t have the budgets. I\u2019m having to use WhatsApp and try to phone people when they\u2019re doing full-time jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I think of something, I can\u2019t just go see a player, pull a coach to one side or grab someone from the other side of the room. I\u2019m having to wait to speak to them at training on Tuesday or Thursday evening.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m honest, when this opportunity came up I wasn\u2019t sure, having just finished playing, I wanted to give up my Saturdays. It wasn\u2019t the level of rugby, without being disrespectful, that I envisaged getting into.<\/p>\n \u201cProfessional rugby is what I\u2019ve known for 21 years, it\u2019s what I\u2019ve been motivated by, and I was so keen to get back there. But my wife was like, \u2018Why are you being stupid? This is what you\u2019ve been working hard for with your masters, this is what you\u2019ve been trying to get work experience-wise.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018You\u2019ve now got a chance to put your money where your mouth is and put some things into action and do what you\u2019ve always wanted to do. It doesn\u2019t matter what level you\u2019re doing it at\u2019.<\/p>\n