MIKE BROWN HAS emerged as an injury doubt for Eddie Jones’ England ahead of the November internationals after reaggravating an ankle problem.
The 32-year-old was carried off during Harlequins’ Premiership fixture with Leicester last Saturday week, and underwent a scan on the ankle on Wednesday after exacerbating the problem in training.
‘Quins director of rugby, John Kingston, said Brown will ‘require more time’ in order to recover from the knock, but remains unsure as to the extent of the damage.
“We have got a scan being on done on him having realised he is not quite right,” Kingston said. “He has been away with England for two or three days and they have done some treatment on it. He is not fit to play this weekend. It’s clearly something that’s not quite right and therefore, after he’s reaggravated it, it’s better to leave it a bit and give it some more time.”
Anthony Watson is another who was unable to partake in England training in Oxford on Monday, with eight players in total missing out on the session.
Kingston accepts that head coach Jones may be forced to look for a replacement for Brown ahead of next month’s Tests versus Argentina, Australia and Samoa, but backed his fullback to bounce back in international colours.
“Mike Brown is the first-choice full-back for England in my book and people will always say ‘who are the competitors?’ – that is the nature of the business,” he said. “He wants to play well for England, he wants to be involved in the World Cup – and there’s no reason he can’t be. It would be a big mistake to write him off.”
Billy Vunipola is already out of November after undergoing knee surgery. Indeed, with a four-month recovery period slated, the number eight remains a slight doubt for next year’s Six Nations.
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