Quins star Brown puts return to form down to Jones

Mike Brown believes he is getting back to his best form thanks to a simple piece of advice from England’s new head coach Eddie Jones.

The Harlequins full-back has been sensational for club and country in recent seasons, but in common with many team-mates, his form dipped during England’s ill-fated World Cup campaign.

Now though, the 30-year-old feels rejuvenated, having played a major part in his country clinching their first Six Nations title since 2011.

And it’s all down to Jones telling him to trust his instincts more.

“For me it’s about not over-thinking things and having too much in my head,” Brown said.

“I was thinking too much about maybe trying to set things up, or make things happen.

“There were a few things [not right] but Eddie’s been on to me to try and back myself a bit more – just really take it to teams and not overthink things but just go for it. That’s what I’ve tried to do.

“If it doesn’t come off, it doesn’t come off. I just try to be involved as much as possible and I’m happy with the way it’s gone. I’m reasonably happy with my form again now.”

As well as exorcising a few World Cup demons with a win that avenged the catastrophic pool defeat by Wales at Twickenham last year which hastened their cup exit, Brown is also happy to have buried the controversy that surrounded the previous Six Nations match against Ireland.

Brown faced a possible citing after that game for kicking Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray in the head when trying to clear a loose ball.

It led to much social media vilification, but Brown was exonerated by opposition coach Joe Schmidt and cleared of any wrong doing.

A few people jumped on me after the incident with Connor Murray,” Brown said.

“It’s the usual stuff [on social media]. You know how it is. That’s life now.

“But you just get on with it and the support I’ve had the last few weeks has been amazing. It’s really kept me upbeat and kept me going.

“I’m not your usual full-back, so obviously people will jump on that. I probably play a slightly different way from most people.

“I show my emotion, I’m aggressive, physical, but I like to think I stay on the right side of the law and don’t overstep the mark.

“A few things some people said the last couple of weeks were not great, but it was just about getting out there and showing people what I was about.”