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Leicester statement: The re-signing of Mike Brown

Leicester's Mike Brown (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Leicester have ended speculation about the future of former England full-back Mike Brown, confirming on Friday that the veteran will be at the Gallagher Premiership club next season.

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A social media post on Thursday, where Brown wrote “Loved every minute of it, thank you Leicester’, had fans believing that he could be finishing up at the club given that the immediate effect exits of Joe Powell and Joe Browning were confirmed earlier in the day by the Tigers.

However, the departure of Brown isn’t the case as he is set to continue on at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. A statement read: “Leicester Tigers are excited to announce Mike Brown has re-signed with the club beyond the 2023/24 season.

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“Brown, 38, joined Tigers on an initial two-week trial in 2023, signing a contract as cover during the Guinness Six Nations before earning a deal through to the end of December last year. A veteran of 272 Gallagher Premiership games, Brown has been in excellent form this season, scoring three tries in his 11 appearances to date.”

Brown said: “Firstly, I just want to thank the club for being so welcoming during my time so far and seeing the value I can bring to the team and our environment here at Leicester Tigers. The Tigers community, our supporters have been brilliant with me from day one and I hope they can see what it means to me to wear the shirt and represent them.

“I still feel I have a lot to offer on the field so to be able to continue at a club where I’m surrounded by world-class players and great people is a privilege and I’ll keep contributing in any way I can.”

Leicester boss Dan McKellar added: “I have been beyond impressed with Mike since joining the club. If I reflect on our season so far, whether he has been at full-back, doing a job on the wing or off the bench, Mike has been one of our best performers week-in and week-out.

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“A lot will be made about his age but when you see Mike’s preparation, his diligence in how he takes care of his body, you see why he’s still doing what he’s doing, and he’ll continue to be an important player for us.”

Leicester general manager Richard Wilks said: “When Mike initially joined us on a two-week trial, we couldn’t have expected him to still be here and contributing the way he is every day but that’s a testament to who he is as a rugby player and a person.

“Mike sets a brilliant example for players and staff alike; he is diligent in his recovery, is willing to play any role his team requires but even in completing his studies this year, he’s shown what it takes to be a rounded professional rugby player and that is incredibly valuable for a squad.”

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Comments

4 Comments
b
bob 422 days ago

Great player. Would be good to see him in the England shirt again.

C
Clive 426 days ago

Still the best EQ 15.

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Tom 35 minutes ago
English rugby pundits and fans really need to get a grip

However I think the “if their opponents had scored more points then England would have lost” retrospective is pointless at best and silly at worst.

I completely understand your view on this but England were the worst team in both games and if we're letting the result detract from the evaluation of the performance then we're doing ourselves a disservice. England fans should not get excited because we scraped two fortunate wins, it was a swing in variance and long term that variance will come crashing down on England because they did not play well. Ifs and buts aside I don't think anyone thinks England are better than either France or Scotland. The performance is what matters, results follow performances in the long run.


You could for sure argue that the games they lost they could have won if the bounce of a ball went differently. In none of those narrow loses did England feel considerably the better team and there weren't moments you'd chalk up to massive amounts of fortune. In the two narrow loses they very much felt like the worst team and there were many moments where the rub of the green went England's way. Ultimately, they've had an uptick in variance which will average itself out to more losses because they're not good. These two results don't mean anything has been fixed. As I say, performances are what I'm looking for, not results, the results come if the performances are good and right now the performance in every game has more or less been dire.

4 Go to comments
R
RedWarriors 57 minutes ago
France change two for Ireland but stick with 7-1 bench tactic

I saw Ben Kayser saying the French players would be livid and motivated due to the Ringrose ban etc. Galthie and Ntamack know the exact reason why the bans differ and one must assume the French squad does also. Galthie is playing silly buggers.


As the red card for Ringrose fell right before a fallow week, he WAS released by Leinster who provided accompanying substantiation. Precedent shows club matches are included in bans in such cases. For Galthie/France alone precedents are Atonio (2023), Haouas (2023), and Danty (2024). Club matches counted for bans.


Ntamack was different because France were due to play a match the following week (versus England). Therefore Galthie COULD NOT release Ntamack. In the written decision, Galthie tried to argue that Ntamack would be released after England but had to admit that a lot depended on outcome of England match which was unknowable. On top of that Ntamack was the starting outhalf for France.

The precedents for the Ntamack situation are O’Mahony (2021) where club games did not count, and Willemse (2024) where Willemse had a 10 match ban reduced to 4 and club matches DID count for the suspension.


So Galthie has had three cases like Ringrose (Atonio, Haouas, Danty) with same outcome as Ringrose. He had one previous case like Ntamack where he succeeded, but he was aware of and even mentioned the O’Mahony case where all the ban was for International matches.


In a nutshell. Why were those players allowed club matches to count? Because they WERE released for the club games.

Why did club matches not count for O’Mahony and Ntamack? Because they WERE NOT released for the club games which meant they could not reach the evidential threshold required.


Why is he demanding a World Rugby inquiry when he knows the reasons for such decisions, has known for years, has benefitted for years? France know this and Ireland knows this.

Dupont and the French team are honorable. This wont sit well with them. I would argue this is a bigger motivator for Ireland than for France.


Conclusion: Galthie is under serious pressure to win this match

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