Newcastle full-back Mike Brown claims that an altercation between him and England teammate Ben Te’o in the build-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup was an excuse for him being left out of the final squad.

The argument flared up after a social event whilst the England squad was at a training camp in Treviso ahead of the showpiece event.

Being pushed out

Brown believes that coach Eddie Jones used the incident as an excuse to drop him as he was already being pushed into a fringe player as the season progressed.

“That wasn’t the reason why I didn’t go to the World Cup,” Brown told RugbyPass.

“I think it was just easier for Eddie to put it on that, as I’d kind of been getting pushed out of the team as that season had gone on.

“Then a few days later, when Eddie’s ringing around people to say they’re not involved, he kind of puts it on that.

“I said to him, ‘Look, I understand selection is what it is, but don’t put it on that. You haven’t even asked me what happened. With all due respect, I didn’t really do anything. I don’t feel like it was my fault. I hadn’t drunk much, two drinks or whatever. There were people in a worse state than me and I was just trying to mind my own business’.

“So he just switched and turned on me, effing and blinding. It wasn’t nice.

“Just be a man and say what is the reason I’m not getting picked. Don’t try to put it on that, because it’s not that. It’s pretty clear and obvious that it’s not that.

“I asked him to tell me what he thinks happened and he said, ‘My security guards were there, they told me what happened’.

“I said, ‘Let me see what they’ve said has happened’, because he said he had written reports. He wouldn’t give me that.

“He said, ‘Who the F do you think you are?’ because I was going back at him and he doesn’t like that.

“It’s a shame it ended up like that. I wanted clarity on why I wasn’t getting picked, not some made-up excuse.”

The altercation started with Maro Itoje jokingly hitting other players on the chest after they had been drinking. Then, after Brown protested, Te’o started taunting him, sparking a new altercation ending with a punch to the head.

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