England
Mike Brown has lost trust in England team-mates
ESPN Staff
November 10, 2015
England's World Cup review under-fire

Mike Brown believes trust within the England squad has been "completely shot" following allegations that have emerged since the Rugby World Cup.

England suffered a pool stage exit from their home tournament, losing to both Australia and Wales, with head coach Stuart Lancaster coming in for criticism from unnamed members of his squad.

Brown, though, does not think that "anyone was good enough in an England shirt" to launch attacks on the set-up.

And following revelations over the weekend that kit manager Dave Tennison was under investigation for encouraging players to buy shares in an energy company, Brown admitted the slew of stories had been hard to take.

"There has been a story at the weekend which is absolutely ridiculous so the trust has gone now as far as I am concerned," Brown told The Telegraph.

"I worked so hard to play in a World Cup and I am passionate about playing for England.

"It is just difficult because we have not left it in a good place and it doesn't help with all these people deciding to pipe up in the squad that probably shouldn't be, probably anonymously.

Mike Brown charges forward against France, England v France, Six Nations, Twickenham, London, March 21, 2015
Mike Brown © Getty Images
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"I don't think anyone was good enough in an England shirt to be piping up saying: 'This was wrong, that was wrong' and that sort of thing.

"If they are going to say something, I think they should put their name to it. That is going to make it even more difficult when we [the England squad] do meet up because I think the trust has been, as you can imagine, completely shot now.

"But it will come out who it was at the end of the day so it will be interesting when it does because I will be one of the first people to speak to them."

Lancaster's position as coach as come under intense scrutiny since England limped out, with an official review set to be published on Nov. 17.

But Brown believes the future is bright for whoever leads the side into the Six Nations and beyond.

"In terms of the group of players we don't need to rebuild," Brown said.

"There are some quality young players coming through, [Anthony] Watson, [Jack] Nowell, [Henry] Slade, [George] Ford and Faz [Owen Farrell] and there are other players who did not get picked who can push their way in as well.

"So if you keep the majority of those players together and you don't need to rebuild in that sense but I think in terms of trust, given everything that has happened after the World Cup, that definitely needs rebuilding in my eyes."

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