Professional rugby is increasingly a numbers game. Pounds, euros, metres carried, kick percentages, set-piece efficiency. Some of it is useful information, some of it clutters the imagination. It is also worth keeping in mind that one of the greatest strengths of a top player cannot be fully measured. To borrow the old saying, it’s not the size of the dog that matters, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
You can, in other words, be the best athlete in the world, with the most chiselled physique and the best gym scores. And you can still be swept aside by the boundless competitiveness and inner drive of the insanely committed. Rarely will you see a better example than Mike Brown’s man-of-the-match performance for Leicester against the Premiership leaders, Saracens, on Sunday.
For those who missed it, Brown was spectacularly good for a player whose last Premiership appearance was 11 months ago. He has not featured in an England training squad since 2019, but looked in rude health as he and Leicester enjoyed a rip-roaring afternoon. Rarely has a player on his debut forged such an instant bond with the Tigers supporters or displayed more on-field passion for the cause.
Which is why, as part of the narrative, we all duly jotted down the same old number. Brown is 37. Alongside him, as Leicester carved up Saracens in the first half, were Jimmy Gopperth (39) and Chris Ashton (35). England’s most-capped player, the 33-year-old Ben Youngs, almost qualified as a rookie by comparison. In the opposing backline was Alex Goode, Brown’s longtime rival for the national No 15 jersey, who remains the smartest of operators at the age of 34.
So much for the received wisdom that modern rugby is mostly a game for the under-30s. When we spoke to Brown and asked for his thoughts on the subject, our dictaphones were in some danger of melting. “It sends out a message,” the former England full-back said. “Don’t write off people. Everyone seems desperate to write people off and expect them to crawl away and die somewhere.”
He went on to cite LeBron James and Tom Brady, among others, as enduring examples in other sports. He could equally have mentioned Johnny Sexton or Alun Wyn Jones or any of the other stalwarts still targeting the Rugby World Cup.
“We work unbelievably hard,” he said. “People don’t see what we do behind closed doors, what we and our families go through to enable us to do what we do. And that’s every single day. We don’t just turn up and have a jolly with our mates.”
Hence Brown’s frustration when Harlequins “wrote me off because of my age” and released him in 2021 after 14 years. He wanted to keep playing, but, after a brief spell with Newcastle, the tightening salary cap made it harder to find another Premiership gig.
He – “there was a lot of training down the park on my own” – and his supportive wife, Eliza, have had to dig deep. “She’s an incredible woman who does a lot to allow me to do things like this. We’ve just had another child, who is now four weeks old. We’ve also got a five-year-old so it can be carnage at times. It’s tough on her when I’m commuting up here.”
The good news is that Leicester’s head coach, Richard Wigglesworth, kept playing until he was 39 and also has no time for age-based generalisations. “There are some guys who get to 35 and fall off a cliff, but they’re not the really professional ones or the ones that have been lucky with injury,” said Wigglesworth, who believes each and every player should be treated on a case-by-case basis.
“You have to be a very good professional to play like Mike did. But age is not a barrier. I was in that situation a few times. You almost become like a young player again; you keep having to prove yourself. Except that as a youngster you have an excuse. When you’re old and you have a poor game it’s a case of: ‘He’s over the hill.’”
Advances in post-game recovery, among other things, have made a massive difference. The diligent trainer who looks after his body can extend their career significantly. And if the body is willing, the mind often does the rest. “I just needed someone like Wiggy to give me the opportunity,” said Brown. “It’s good being back out there, doing what I love. As I’ve been telling everyone prepared to listen, I’m still ready and able to contribute. It’s the old Roy Keane thing. I’m just doing my job, aren’t I?”
It certainly makes days like Sunday all the more golden. “We all know that if it hadn’t gone right people would have said we were too old,” Brown said. “But people sometimes don’t understand and recognise the value in older athletes being around. People watching them to see what they do to prepare, people listening to what they’re saying. It’s like having another coach.”
To be in Leicester was to be reminded that elite sport is not just a matter of youthful exuberance, fresh blood or the latest gym stats. It is also about heart and soul and raging against the dying of the light.
