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Mike Brown suspects the septicaemia that forced him to miss the start of the season may have been the result of the punishment absorbed during Englands summer tour of Australia.Brown sat out Harlequins first two matches of the new Aviva Premiership campaign after being hospitalised by the potentially life-threatening blood infection, but has now been passed fit to make his comeback against Exeter on Saturday.The 31-year-old full-back spent five days under medical supervision and lost 6kgs, forcing him to feast on as many calories as possible in an attempt to regain what he had shed.Although the cause of the infection is unknown, Brown admits that starting all three Tests in the 3-0 series whitewash left him battered and bruised.I woke up one morning with a pain in my shoulder. I thought it was just a bang in training then I started feeling quite ill and was sent for an MRI and blood tests, Brown said.I ended up in hospital for five days with septicaemia. I was cold, with shivers and bug symptoms, and my shoulder pain was getting worse and worse. My haemoglobin was down, white blood cells down, liver down.I had no lacerations or bites or anything. It could have been a trauma from the Australia tour -- I was quite bruised. Its been good because Ive been able to teat what I want. To start with I was eating anything.Coming back, you have to take it step by step and see how you react because the body systems take a bit of a hammering. To start with I didnt really know what was going on. It was frustrating because Id done four weeks of really hard training.My weight was still down last week, but Im ready to go now. Playing rugby is what Im about.It took a gargantuan final effort from England to complete an unexpected 3-0 series victory over the Wallabies with players who had looked out on their feet at the final whistle in Melbourne stirring themselves for one final assault.Brown, who married his partner Eliza during the summer, believes the Sydney finale won 44-40 is evidence of the character in the team, but views the Grand Slam and success Down Under as merely staging posts.I was absolutely hanging before the last game. Ten minutes before the end Id taken a couple of kick-offs straight down the middle and took bit of a beating on the floor, he said.I was hanging on a bit at the end but although it had been a 13-month season, it was the best game we played there.To do that in the last Test when we had already wrapped up the series when we could easily have gone nah, nah weve won the series, were on holiday shows what this group is about.Its only a start with England. If you look at it, we havent really achieved much. Achieving things is when you start winning multiple grand slams, beating southern hemisphere teams all the time, being number one side in the world and winning multiple World Cups.Its a good start and weve got to use it as a stepping-stone. Theres more pressure on us now and more teams that want to knock us down.Quins have endured a disappointing start to the 2016-17 Premiership, narrowly defeating Bristol before losing at Sale, and they head to Exeter with mixed news on the injury front.Brown will be joined in the starting XV by England colleague Joe Marler, who has recovered from a dead arm, but centre Jamie Roberts and fly-half Nick Evans are out with respective foot and groin problems.Its brilliant to have him back because hes the best full-back in England in my opinion -- and in Englands opinion, Quins director of rugby John Kingston said.We want all of our good players available and weve had a boost from him being back, bringing with him all the assurance and quality that we all know hes got.Weve got some big games coming up and hes a competitor and winner. Having him back makes a big difference. Yannick Weber Predators Jersey . 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Wales centre Jamie Roberts has urged rugbys power brokers to enshrine the British and Irish Lions place in any revised global schedule.The Harlequins battering-ram already has two Lions tours under his belt and will hope to play his way into next summers squad that will head to New Zealand.Rugbys global fixture cycle is under greater scrutiny than ever with no Test matches agreed beyond World Cup 2019 and both hemispheres holding conflicting ideas about how to solve fixture congestion and improve player welfare.Roberts has called on governing body World Rugby and the games other top administrators to ensure the Lions does not suffer among those negotiations.I really hope the Lions can continue to have the right space in the calendar, said Roberts.Its unique in rugby and in world sport, where you have four countries coming together who usually battle against each other.And not just for the players but for the fans. To travel to the southern hemisphere and to support a team which only exists every four years, theres not too much like that in world sport, let alone rugby.And to see that disappear would be extremely sad.So from my point of view Ive been very, very grateful to have had the privilege and the honour of being on a Lioons tour and experiencing that as a player.ddddddddddddTo see that not be one of the big, big things in the rugby calendar would be very, very sad.The Lions will endure a punishing 10-match schedule in New Zealand next summer, with the first tour match on June 3 just a week after the Aviva Premiership final. However, Roberts believes every player in the mix to tour next summer will set aside any complaints about a gruelling season in order to chase a starting Test jersey with the Lions.As much as people talk about cramming 10 games into five or six weeks, its that special, the Lions, and were not talking about something that happens every season, said Roberts.Its an extremely special and privileged place to be. And regardless of how much your bodys hurting after a long and tough season, youre ready.Youre ready to really put your body on the line.Players from the host nations, they only get the chance to play the Lions every 12 years. So its very easy to appreciate too just how big it is for them as well.They know playing against the Lions is a huge privilege as well, so long, long may it continue.? ' ' '