Quins' Brown out to prove England point (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Quins' Brown out to prove England point

3:11pm Wednesday 8th September 2010 in

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Harlequins full-back Mike Brown reckons he will be better prepared for an England call-up should he get the nod this season.

The 25-year-old endured a trying time against New Zealand during his last appearance in a senior international shirt - his third cap to date - in 2008.

Brown, currently on the fringes of the England Elite Player Squad set-up, celebrated his birthday with a try in Saturday’s 29-29 Twickenham Double Header draw with London Wasps.

He has spent pre-season working on his speed - with sprint coach Margo Wells - and his all-round game under the watchful eye of director of rugby Conor O’Shea.

And the Southampton-born academy graduate, safe from the rigours of touring over the summer, believes the hard work is paying off.

“I’ve enjoyed a long pre-season, got my head down and am probably in the best shape of my career,” he said.

“It was great to get back into at the weekend and to get a score, but we should have won.

“I want to get to the highest level and have been distracted by that in the past. Now I’m just concentrating on playing well for Quins and hopefully the rest will fall into place.

“I am 100 per cent a different person and a different player compared to 2008 and working with Margo and Conor has helped that massively.”

Brown is the second fastest player at Quins - only one hundredth of a second slower than centre George Lowe - according to pre-season testing.

And he is looking forward to proving a point against current England full-back Ben Foden’s Northampton Saints on Saturday.

“It is just another game but I want to show what I can do and show that I’m better than my opposite man,” he added.

“He is the main man at the moment and you always have that at the back of your mind.

“They are one of the top teams when you look at early season form and we are really looking forward to getting our home campaign up and running.”

Quins’ next three games: Sept 11 Northampton Saints (h, ko 1.30pm), 17 Sale Sharks (a, ko 7.45pm) 25 Exeter Chiefs (h).