Magnificent round coming up Scotland vs Italy France vs Wales Ireland vs England Will Brown be playing someone please...
He's our best #15 by some way. The next cab off the rank (unless we go with Watson, who made a pretty decent fist of it versus Italy, or May) is possibly Alex Goode. A name to strike fear into the heart of every English rugby follower.
I'd be perfectly happy giving Watson the fulltime job as understudy to Mike Brown after the Italy performance. I'm not convinced we've seen how he'll react defensively to a fully fledged international attack, and I don't know how well he kicks... but his counterattacking and high ball game is great. The fact that we have Nowell in the 25 man squad suggests it's the way Lanky sees it too.
He was player of the tournament in last years six nations and easily our best player in the 13/14 international season. He's not hit that height this year tbf by some way but at his best he's the first name on the teamsheet
Early days and he needs to put up a few more seasons but I rate him ( brown ) as high as Hastings. In years gone by when muliaina for the abs was fullback a player of brown's quality would be starting in the world xv. I don't think you would make that claim today with peeps such as Folau and even halfpenny around but he is part of the conversation.
You rate Mike Brown as high as Gavin Hastings? The legend, Gavin Hastings? LMAO. Come off it mate. And you rate Mike Brown higher than Ben Smith or even Israel Dagg? Lol!
Here is how I would rate the fullbacks in world rugby at the moment: 1. Ben Smith 2. Israel Folau 3. Willie le Roux 4. Israel Dagg 5. Leigh Halfpenny 6. Mike Brown
If you asked Fiery to rank the best teapots in the world, he'd make sure to have one from NZ, Australia and South Africa make up the top three.
I'm still trying to clean up the coffee I spat all over my keyboard from when Hurricane rated Mike Brown as high as Gavin Hastings!
And while I may put brown a bit higher and Le roux a bit lower I don't have too many issues with that pecking order. My observation however is that all of those players are extremely fine full backs who at other times of world rugby history would have been the best in the world. While Ben smith may be better than mike brown it isn't by much. My order: Folau Ben smith/halfpenny Mike brown Dagg Some distance Le roux As for the Hastings comparison, Hastings was bigger and harder to tackle but both were/are very brave players who don't screw up often. Mike brown is not flashy like smith or Folau but he always makes the right play and is dependable. I have been impressed by his play since the minute I saw him and I would trade dagg for him quite easily.
Did Gavin Hastings have hands like these? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rK32ECspvfY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> EDIT: Classic Courtney Lawes at 0:05 too
Yes he did. Hastings was a colossus on the field in the 80s and 90s. Scotland's greatest ever rugby player without a doubt. Mike Brown would blush at such a comparison (while others snigger or scoff at the suggestion) Not even in the same league.