A PROBLEM position for England head coach Stuart Lancaster in recent seasons has been on the wings - but Mike Brown believes Jack Nowell offers the ideal solution, writes Pippa Field.

Plenty of players have been blooded on the international stage but after trying and failing multiple times to find his man, it seems as though the national team boss has finally got it right.

Lancaster has opted for Exeter Chiefs’ Nowell, who grew up in Newlyn, and Bath’s Anthony Watson and according to England’s premier full-back Brown, the duo is a very dangerous combination.

Competition is fierce on the wing. Gloucester’s Jonny May started the Six Nations as after scoring a sensational individual score against New Zealand in the autumn, while the likes of Marland Yarde and Christian Wade are yet to get a look in this international season.

But the man who has particularly impressed Harlequins’ Brown is Nowell after he was brought in for the final three games of this year’s championship.

“Jack is a quality player, I’ve got a lot of time for him,” said Brown.

“I worked closely with the wingers so Jack and Anthony have really impressed me, just their maturity as young players are so much further than when I was a 21 or 22-years-old.

“They are both high skilful, quality players but obviously their maturity as well. They are striving to be the best they can be, they are always looking to improve.

“Looking at players like me that has been around a bit longer than them, seeing that they can do to be a bit better. It’s great to see.

“I think Jack got a bit of stick before about his finishing and that he didn’t score too many tries but I think as a winger, as soon as you start scoring they come around a bit more often.”

Brown has warned Nowell against complacency though, citing the recent fall from grace of Gloucester’s May. When May scored against New Zealand in November, he seemed nailed on to not only make September’s World Cup squad but also enter the tournament as England’s first choice wing.

Fast forward six months and it’s a very different story altogether for May.

“Jonny just has to keep working hard like he has been doing,” Brown said.

“He has shown great attitude up until he got dropped and then from there he showed an even better attitude when he came back into camp from being dropped.

“Obviously it’s a massive disappointment, we’ve all been there. You can go into your shell or be a bit grumpy but he hasn’t shown that at all which is great to see.”

Brown was speaking on behalf of HSBC at the Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens where he helped run HSBC coaching clinics for schools during the tournament.