Mike Brown: Quins form won’t ruin my England Test dream

Mike Brown has scotched suggestions that Harlequins are in terminal decline, claiming a misfiring backline will not harm his hopes of nailing down England's No.15 jersey.
A comfortable victory at Worcester aside, Quins have managed just one win from their other four matches, scoring only two tries to sit seventh in the table.
And they tumbled to defeat against Scarlets in the Heineken Cup on Saturday despite Brown scoring two tries.
Full-back Brown has been a consistent performer but a backline that dazzled en route to the title in 2012 looks prosaic and, with both Paul Sackey and Jordan Turner-Hall injured, threadbare.
Saints, Sarries, Leicester and Bath all recruited heavily over the summer but, apart from Brown and Danny Care, Harlequins look short of international quality behind the scrum, which itself is still reeling from losing James Johnston, Olly Kohn and for the time-being, the injured Nick Kennedy.
Brown, however, does not believe the once booming Quins have gone bust.
“It's not a train crash by any means – we've won a couple and were unlucky against Saints,” said Brown. “Same against Sarries, where it was close until the last 15 minutes.
“We know we can match these teams, we just have to make sure from minute one to 80 we're getting our game together on the pitch.
“I don't think the dodgy run will carry on. We've got a quality squad and you don't lose quality overnight. It's not about one player, it's about a whole squad over the season.
“It's a long season so as a squad we'll keep plugging away and on the side of that, individually, I'll keep working hard and trying to push for those England honours.
“We still have big lumps like Nick Easter. Young George Merrick is a big lump, too, who loves smashing people so we have players who can do that but we all need to step up from one to 23.
“It is difficult when you haven't got consistency in the team but we've been working with the other players a long time now and there's consistency within the squad so that's no excuse.
“We should know each other's game inside out and unfortunately that hasn't clicked in the back-line but I'm sure when it does we'll start scoring a good number of tries.
“We aren't being clinical, respecting the ball. We're playing in the right areas but our skill-set is not high enough and we're picking and choosing when we're doing things and you can't do that.
“You can't pick and choose when you want to work because you'll get stung. We need to be switched on from minute zero to minute 80.”
After a run of nine solid, if unspectacular, England appearances on the left wing, Brown returned to full-back on the summer tour to Argentina in the absence of the injured Alex Goode.
Goode is now back and firing for table-toppers Saracens while Ben Foden has continued his form from last season's Premiership final and looks back to his best at Saints.
But Brown – who has yet to score a try for England during his 18 caps – doesn't believe that Harlequins' poor run will see him relinquish the No.15 jersey this autumn, adamant that his personal form has gone up a notch.
“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity in the white jersey in a position and that just happened to be wing,” he added.
“I think I did a really good job but we have some really good wingers pushing on, so I think I'll stick to full-back.
“Alex Goode and Ben Foden are in form but that's fine with me. I put enough pressure on myself to not worry about what other people are doing.
“I try to focus on my own performances and how I can get better as a player. I have been working really hard on all aspects of my game and that has shown this season.
“I think I'm playing better than last season for Quins – so hopefully that will help me in selection. Stuart Lancaster is obviously looking at individual players and if they're doing their job and everything he is asking of them and playing well regardless of how the team are doing, then I'm sure that's all he wants to see. I think I'm doing that.
“There's so much more I can give at No.15 and I want the opportunity to show that in the autumn Tests against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina again.”
RYAN WALTERS