{"id":785544,"date":"2026-09-28T18:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/785544\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T18:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:38:10","slug":"noah-brown-brives-6ft-9ins-124kg-teen-eligible-for-england-and-the-springboks-and-targeting-test-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/785544\/","title":{"rendered":"Noah Brown: Brive’s 6ft 9ins, 124kg teen eligible for England and the Springboks and targeting Test rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In just a few wild months, Noah Brown\u2019s dreams have begun to come true. He has gone from club-less and stymied in England, to attracting suitors at the very top of French rugby, piquing the interest of the game\u2019s thought leader, Rassie Erasmus, and training with Courtney Lawes, the ageless England<\/a> hitman. As he sat on Zoom calls this spring with some of the biggest teams in Europe, the 19-year-old found it hard to process how drastically, and how swiftly, his life was changing.<\/p>\n

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Brown is a second-row with an eye-catching profile and ambition to match his size. He stands 6ft 9ins tall and weighs 124kg. Even in the age of protein-infused He-Men, those are mighty numbers. He was born in Port Elizabeth to a South African mother and English father, raised in Greater London, and holds eligibility for both nations. Brown is hungry to wear the colours of either U20s team, a point he hammers home repeatedly. Fresh from Oxford College, he has signed for Brive<\/a> in the ProD2 and begun his first season with the club\u2019s espoirs (effectively, academy) side.<\/p>\n

How Brown came to be occupying a studio room in the south of France<\/a> is quite the tale. It speaks to the value of hard graft, of course, but also the willingness to put oneself out there and the persistence to create opportunities where none exist. Brown had spells in the youth systems of London Irish<\/a> and Gloucester<\/a> but never quite cracked Prem academy rugby. His paucity of minutes for the latter meant English clubs were lukewarm about his prospects. In their eyes, he\u2019d had no shop window to display his wares.<\/p>\n

His coaches at college, Harrison Marshall and Tom Redfern, had pushed again and again for inclusion with England\u2019s Under-20s to no avail. When Brown\u2019s time with Oxford was up, his options were limited. He needed an advocate. Brown contacted the Izzat sports agency and soon, his highlight reel was landing in the inboxes of all the movers and shakers in French rugby.<\/p>\n

\"NoahNoah Brown (centre, in front of posts) made his debut for the Brive espoirs side against their Clermont<\/a> counterparts at the start of September (Photo by CA Brive Rugby)<\/p>\n

\u201cI finished playing college rugby and was a bit stuck on where to go,\u201d Brown says. \u201cA few clubs had shown interest during college but nothing stuck and I thought my best shot was to reach out to Izzat to get my name out there. They thought French rugby would be really good for me. They spoke to all the clubs in the ProD2 and Top 14<\/a> and within a few hours, eight or so came back very interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cToulouse, Pau, Bordeaux-Begles and Racing 92<\/a> showed interest. I had calls with them all, to talk about me as a person, what their style of rugby is and how they want to play. It was about proving to the clubs who were interested what I can do, and to really push to play for England or South Africa<\/a> U20s. I believe I can be at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a kid toiling to see a path forward, to be sat suddenly before these heavyweights felt beyond surreal; like an aspiring artist invited to exhibit at the Louvre. Things got trippier still when Brown\u2019s new agents reached out to their South African contacts and wound up on the phone to \u2018Rassie\u2019 himself. Brown\u2019s mother, Wendy, was beside herself. So were her extended family scattered across Cape Town, Johannesburg and Plettenburg Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was ridiculous, I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Brown says. \u201cI had to just sit there and realise what had just happened. Even my dad in the background was loving all of this. When I told my mum my agent had spoken to Rassie Erasmus, she couldn\u2019t believe it. It was an unreal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up to Courtney massively growing up, seeing the things he does on the pitch, being able to train alongside him when I came here was unbelievable.<\/p>\n

In the end, Brive played a trump card. Not only were the usual assortment of academy coaches Zooming with Brown, Lawes was enlisted to sell the place. His presence alone \u2013 never mind his glowing assessment of the club \u2013 did all the heavy lifting. When Brown flew over to check out the facilities and the town for himself, he ran with the England totem in a handful of sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrive really stood out because they had their whole senior staff on the call and they even brought on Courtney Lawes,\u201d he says. \u201cHe said this is an awesome opportunity for me to be able to go and really focus on my rugby. In Brive, there is not much to do, it\u2019s a very quiet town but it means you are really dedicated and to your rugby rather than going out and partying which isn\u2019t something I\u2019m really intrigued about. I love the fact it\u2019s a small place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked up to Courtney massively growing up, seeing the things he does on the pitch, being able to train alongside him when I came here was unbelievable. That was a big selling point. He loved his experience here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Brown has always been a rugby obsessive, for most of his early years, there was little to suggest he\u2019d make a career from the game. He began life in the Under-8s reserve team at Maidenhead RFC.<\/p>\n

\"CourtneyVeteran England forward Courtney Lawes left Brive for Sale<\/a> after two years in the south of France (Photo Jan Kruger\/Getty Images for Sale Sharks)<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t anything special,\u201d he says. \u201cI started to pick up that you needed to put in hard work. I got picked for London Irish at U16s, began calling lineouts and I started thinking yeah, this could be something.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt secondary school and then in college, I would go to a local club and do extra skills, fitness, everything. I did a little bit of kicking too \u2013 I\u2019ll admit that \u2013 and I did all of that until dark every day which only shows the hard work does pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s physical potential was obvious, but his gangling frame was at risk of rendering him a liability rather than a weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into college rugby weighing 74kg at 6ft 9ins, so very slim. I realised I needed to put on weight. I spoke to some of my South African family and they told me about a South African porridge maize called mieliepap. It helped me put on good weight really quickly, my numbers have shot up in the gym to show true size and dominance in my ball-carrying and defence. I ended up gaining 50kg in three years.<\/p>\n

I love being thrown in at the deep end with a load of international and Top 14 players. I love the style of rugby, it\u2019s fast, it\u2019s intense, you are always on your toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get many minutes with Gloucester which was frustrating, and that\u2019s when I knew I really needed to knuckle down, do extras, speak to my coaches and strength and conditioning specialists to show my work ethic is higher than others\u2019. I didn\u2019t want to rely on talent; I wanted my work ethic to be the identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been an element of culture shock in Brive. English is not widely spoken at the club or among the locals, so Brown is undergoing an intense period of French tuition. An hour a day, almost every day, with top-ups on Duolingo. A boyhood Harlequins<\/a> fan, the former Stoop enforcer Irne Herbst has taken him under his wing. The espoirs train with and against the top dogs during their set-piece sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being thrown in at the deep end with a load of international and Top 14 players. I love the style of rugby, it\u2019s fast, it\u2019s intense, you are always on your toes and I love that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing Irne Herbst playing for Quins was quite scary when I was 16 and weighing 74kg because he is a monster. Being able to train and gym alongside him now is surreal. It\u2019s crazy to think. It\u2019s only going to benefit me to learn what he does, what he\u2019s the best at, and put it into my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, Brown\u2019s enormity is a point of difference and he\u2019s learned to harness his bulk in varied and frequently painful ways for his opposition. He has a huge engine to drive such a big body around the paddock, and his footballing skills are being honed all the time. His leadership qualities will only grow for living abroad and running a set-piece in a second language.<\/p>\n

He is desperate for an opening to prove himself at national level. The family visit the Western Cape at least once a year and Brown remembers many trips to the DHL Stadium to see the Stormers<\/a> play. He finds a sense of belonging in both sides of his heritage. Earning caps for the English or South African age-grade team would not tie him to the same nation\u2019s senior side. He knows the competition is savage and he has a CV to build. All he yearns for is a chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I am desperate to grab with both hands is an England U20s or South Africa U20s camp. That\u2019s a big goal of mine within the next few months. I just know if I was to be given the opportunity, having that under my belt and proving what I can do over the other boys in my position would only help with my aspirations. I just need that opportunity so I can prove to the staff what I can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had much experience with any of the England setup. I\u2019ve been pushing to get involved in a camp. Everyone has a different route, even coming from Maidenhead U8s second team to playing international rugby, it\u2019s something I know can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to progress at a young age to be able to really stand out at senior rugby, whether that\u2019s with England or South Africa, and even to the British and Irish Lions \u2013 and see if I can get to the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s season began in earnest at the start of September. He has taken on the cream of the young talent at Clermont, Perpignan<\/a> and Toulouse<\/a> and hopes to see ProD2 game time before the campaign is out. Between now and then, U20 squads will be named and how Brown longs to be in them. All of this is so far beyond the predicament he faced barely eight months ago. This has indeed been a wild time; the year ahead could be giddier still.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just a few wild months, Noah Brown\u2019s dreams have begun to come true. He has gone from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-785544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}