‘Trust completely shot now’

England fullback Mike Brown has lost all trust in his teammates after recent claims made by players who refuse to be named.

Brown has been frustrated by players who have criticised coach Stuart Lancaster’s tenure under the cloak of anonymity.

'There has been a story at the weekend which is absolutely ridiculous, so the trust has gone now as far as I am concerned,' he told The Telegraph, referring to a report regarding kit man Dave Tennison and the alleged encouragement of players to invest in an energy company.

'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.'

He added: '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.'

Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

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