The Harlequins’ full-back was chosen as the month’s stand out performer by a panel of distinguished rugby media – including writers, broadcasters and photographers.

“Mike has reinvented himself this year and turned himself into a world class player who we believe will deservedly make his Test debut in this year’s RBS 6 Nations," said Panel Chairman Paul Morgan.

"He exemplifies the reasons why Harlequins sit on top of the Aviva Premiership Rugby table and the award is our way or showing how impressed we have been with Mike’s form."

Brown spoke of the pride he felt for being named December’s Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Month: "I am so happy to receive this award from Aviva. It’s a great time to be involved with Harlequins. I couldn’t have found my recent form without the constant help and support from my teammates and the Quins coaching staff, they have all had a massive influence on me over the past few months and I’d like to thank them all.

"Aviva have kindly donated £500 to the charity of my choice – and I’ve chosen Macmillan Caring Locally. The reason I have chosen this charity is because my Gran recently passed away. Before she passed on, she asked for people to donate to the charity, instead of buying flowers for her funeral, as it was a charity that she supported. So in memory of her, I would like to donate to Macmillan Caring Locally."

Director of rugby at Harlequins Conor O’Shea said: “I’m delighted that Mike has been given this Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Month award. He has been in great form for us all season and he deserves this recognition. I hope that Mike can continue his fine form for the remainder of the season.’’

Louisa Cheetham, Head of Sponsorship at Premiership Rugby title sponsors Aviva added: “Mike has been knocking on the door of the England squad for some time now.  His outstanding form for Harlequins this season looks has been rewarded with a place in the England elite player squad which is testament to the professionalism and determination of the player; a deserved winner of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Month award."

Ulster Rugby: A D’Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; P McAllister, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller [capt], D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg
Replacements: A Kyriacou, T Court, A Macklin, L Stevenson, R Diack, P Marshall, P Jackson, S Terblanche
Aironi Rugby: G Toniolatti ; S Sinoti, R Quartaroli, G Pizarro, M Pratichetti; T Tebaldi, T Keats; S Perugini, F Ongaro, L Romano, C del Fava, M Bortolami [capt], N Cattina, S Favaro, J Sole
Replacements: T D’Apice , A de Marchi, L Redolfini, G Biagi, F Ferrarini, G Bronzini, N Olivier, G Pavan
Referee: Andrew Small (England)

POOL 2
Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh Rugby

Cardiff Blues: L Halfpenny; A Cuthbert, C Laulala, J Roberts, C Czekaj; D Parks, L Williams; G Jenkins, T Thomas, T Filise, B Davies, P Tito [capt], M Paterson, S Warburton, X Rush
Replacements: R Tyrrell, J Yapp, S Andrews, M Molitika, J Navidi, R Rees, C Sweeney, G Evans
Edinburgh Rugby: C Paterson; L Jones, N De Luca, J King, T Visser; H Leonard, G Laidlaw [capt]; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, S Cox, E Lozada, D Denton, R Grant, S McInally
Replacements: S Lawrie, K Traynor, J Gilding, S Turnbull, R Rennie, M Blair, J Houston, T Brown
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

POOL 6
Harlequins v Toulouse

Harlequins: M Brown; S Stegmann, M Hopper, B Urdapilleta, S Smith; N Evans, D Care; J Marler, C Brooker, J Johnston, T Vallejos, G Robson, M Faasavalu, C Robshaw [capt], N Easter
Replacements: J Gray, M Lambert, K Sinckler, C Matthews, L Wallace, R Bolt, R Clegg, U Monye
Toulouse: M Medard; V Clerc, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, T Matanavou; L McAlister, L Burgess; J Poux, G Botha, C Johnston, G Lamboley, Y Maestri, Y Nyanga, T Dusautoir [capt], L Picamoles
Replacements: W Servat, Y Montes, J Falefa, R Millo-Chluski, J Doussain, Y Donguy, Y David , S Sowerby
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

The Buccaneers were training ahead of their clash at Wembley Stadium this weekend against the Chicago Bears and the Quins squad were given exclusive access to watch the session.

Once Tampa Bay’s session had finished, Quins had the opportunity to meet the Buccaneers and discuss their differing sports.

Among the players they met were, Defensive Tackle, Frank Okam, Wide Receiver, Ed Gant, Tight Ends Erik Lorig and Collin Franklin, and Linebackers, Dekota Watson and Adam Hayward.

Harlequins’ Joe Trayfoot, Darryl Marfo and Ollie Lindsay-Hague couldn’t resist putting on the Buccaneers’ American Football helmets, while James Johnston, Rob Buchanan and Kyle Sincklar gave the American visitors a lesson in scrummaging.

James Johnston also performed the Siva Tau (Samoan war dance) for the Florida based team.

Second rower Charlie Matthews is a current member of the Quins academy. At only 20 he has represented England U18 and U20, where he has competed in the last two World Cups, reaching the final this summer.

Having just graduated from Loughborough University, Charlie has been balancing his studies with playing for the University and Harlequins in the A League.

The opening game of the season against London Irish saw Charlie complete another major milestone, when he made his Premiership debut, coming off the bench at the London Double Header.

A good athlete since joining Harlequins at U16, the 6ft 8in lock has added physicality to his game and, helped by the likes of ex-academy and first team starting lock George Robson, he has developed into a strong line-out operator.

Academy Manager, Tony Diprose, says:

“Charlie has worked really hard over the last few seasons and he is now gaining the rewards. He had an excellent Junior World Cup in the summer and  an impressive recent Premiership debut. I look forward to him making many more appearances in the Quins shirt.”

Charlie Matthews also commented:

“I really enjoyed my time at Loughborough but it wasn’t easy jumping between A League, University rugby and England U20s, along with having to fit in my University work. I feel now that I can fully focus on Harlequins and hopefully establish myself in Conor O’Shea’s first team squad.

“I have wanted to be a full time rugby player for as long as I can remember and there is no better place to be than here at Quins. The club is going in the right direction and plays exciting rugby, all the way through from 1 to 15.

A centre with winger’s pace, the former England U20 and Quins academy graduate, George Lowe, has made the number 13 shirt his own since making his Premiership debut against Wasps two seasons ago, and he continues to impress both fans and critics with the maturity with which he plays. His centre partnership with Jordan-Turner-Hall is one of the best in the Aviva Premiership. George is a threat to any defence and many believe it is only a matter of time before he is called into the senior England squad.

An impressive 2010/2011 season saw Lowe shortlisted for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season at the Aviva Premiership Awards, after putting in a number of strong performances. His huge contribution in Europe saw him a key member of the team which beat Stade Francais to claim the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Director of Rugby, Conor O’Shea, says:

“We have said we want to keep our squad together and let it mature and George’s signing is a further statement of that intent. It is hard to believe George is just 21, as it already feels like he is a fixture. We are looking forward to watching George develop further over the coming years and watching him push on to achieve his goals and realize his talent”

George Lowe says:

“Harlequins is a young and ambitious squad who are determined to win more silverware and I want to continue to be a part of it. We play a quick tempo game and an exciting brand of rugby, which is how I love to play.

“We are lucky to have a great set of fans, a great bunch of players who enjoy playing for each other, some fantastic coaches and some top class facilities”.

The Argentine international, who can play on the wing or in the centre, follows former Quins’ team-mate John Andress in making the move from the capital to Devon and has put pen to paper on a two-year deal to become Baxter’s ninth signing of the summer.

In two seasons at the Twickenham Stoop, the 26-year-old made 30 appearances, scoring a total of 20 points. It was, however, his final five points for the Londoners in May that proved so crucial when his late try helped Harlequins secure a dramatic victory over Stade Francais in the final of the 2011 Amlin Challenge Cup in Cardiff.

Welcoming Camacho to the Chiefs, Baxter said: "We have said for some time that we have been looking for a replacement for Nemani [Nadolo] since we knew he left. Interestingly enough and around the same time, Gonzalo came onto the market and it is just a really good fit for us.

"He’s a completely different player to Nemani, but also a different kind of player to what we have here already. He’s a smaller, lighter guy, who is more reliant on his footwork and his explosive pace over a short distance. He is a very tough, competitive player – which is obviously very attractive to us – and he’s shown some good form at the time he became available playing very well in a Harlequins side that was also playing very well. As I said, he’s a really good signing for us."

With the likelihood of Camacho being included in the Argentina squad for the forthcoming World Cup, it may not be until October before Chiefs supporters finally get to see the player pull on an Exeter jersey.

Baxter added: "Fortunately for him, perhaps unfortunately for us, he’s in the World Cup so it means we will have to wait a little while to see him, but he will join up with us as soon as the World Cup finishes. That said, he has already come down, he’s done a good testing with us; he’s a very good character and I am sure he will fit right in. I believe he gives us a real strong option right across our back three."

Camacho, though, insists he cannot wait to begin life with the Chiefs. He said: "I am very excited about this new experience and coming to live and play in Exeter. I have heard nothing but good things about the club and having played at the stadium in Exeter, I loved the crowd. They are crazy for the team and I love that.

"When I came down to Exeter a few weeks ago the people there seemed so friendly. You don’t find that everywhere, but it was an amazing experience. The club too was very nice and the set-up is very professional."

In a final goodbye to Harlequins, however, Camacho added: "Harlequins is a great club with lots of great people. I have made many good friends there and that is priceless for me. Obviously winning the Challenge Cup was another thing that I will not forget easily, but now I am looking forward to my new start with Exeter."

Interest in the signature of Camacho was rife with newly-promoted Worcester Warriors also keen on acquiring the services of the player, who has won five international caps for the Pumas. And Baxter admitted that the Chiefs had to move swiftly to ensure they got the Buenos Aries-born back on board.

He said: "The timing was right for us to act. We managed to move quickly and got things wrapped up relatively quickly as well. We have had to wait a little while as he has been back in Argentina preparing for the World Cup, but we’ve got things done and dusted very quickly."

With Camacho the last of Baxter’s summer recruitment plans, the Exeter coach insists he is excited about the look of his squad for the 2011/12 campaign.

He added: "We have got some very good players now and if you look at the make-up of the squad, we look strong in a lot of areas. We have clearly moved on again from last season and there is genuinely going to be real competition for places.

"I also think we have got a good balance, numbers-wise we are about right with 36 senior players and 10 or 11 academy guys on top of that, so we feel pretty good about things. We have got a lot of our academy guys into Championship clubs, which is going to be good for their development, and I think the key now is to work hard in pre-season with this group of players and make sure we start the season very well."

NAME: Gonzalo Camacho
POSITION: Wing/Centre
DOB: 28/8/84
BIRTHPLACE: Buenos Aries, Argentina
HEIGHT: 5’10 / 1.78m
WEIGHT: 13st 5lbs / 85kg
PREVIOUS CLUBS: Buenos Aries, Harlequins
HONOURS: Argentina (5 caps), Argentina 7s

Now, I’m not sure, and I couldn’t tell you which paper carried the story, but in the finest journalistic tradition I shan’t let this bother me. Even if he didn’t say it, he should have, as there are unlikely to be too many more examples as good as that. I’d always expected Northampton to get blown away by Leinster, something that I think I shared with most people who watched a lot of the Magners League this season. The Saints are a very good team but right now Leinster look a class above and their ability to suddenly just go up a gear is New Zealand-esque. However, until half time it looked like more amusing comparisons with the All Blacks would be made. It wasn’t just that Northampton were doing everything right, but Leinster looked bent on doing everything wrong. We all know how it ended; pretty awesomely for the neutral.

Both coaches have probably asked themselves how they improve. There are not a lot of obvious answers for either, although both men will have found more things than me, on account of knowing a hell of a lot more about rugby. The big glaring exception to that for Northampton has already been mentioned by Mallinder, and that is he asks more from his first fifteen than any other in the British Isles. How much fatigue aided the blue steamroller that Jonny Sexton drove all over Northampton is impossible to say, so I’ll skip straight to the interesting question –

What are you going to do about it Jim?

There’s been very little to stop him rotating at any point this season except a distrust of his backup players. Pretty much all of whom he brought to the club, some of whom have performed quite impressively with their opportunities. Most people would like Joe Ansbro, for example, and Shane Geraghty will get another club easily enough. Maybe it’s the realisation that when Lee Dickson is out, Northampton die on their arse, that prevented him from doing so. I couldn’t say. But I’ll make my first prediction about next season now. If he doesn’t, Northampton will finish this season like the last; in a good position, with plenty of plaudits, but with no silverware. Except maybe the Amlin Cup.

With that clumsy segue, I’d like to talk about Harlequins for a moment. Their victory was far from convincing, largely because they showed the sort of courage Sir Humphrey Appleby liked to talk about when frightening politicians. However, providing they either find a sense of pragmatism, or the ability to genuinely pull off that style of rugby at the highest level, London’s finest vampires look set for a bright future. In particular, Marler-Gray-Johnston is one of the busiest front rows I’ve seen in a while, and if they can keep it together it’s going to have a real effect as they mature. Keeping this team together, in fact, is what I’d say Harlequins main problem is. As their young stars hit their straps and get their international caps – Marler’s nailed on, while surely even Johnson can’t keep on ignoring Robshaw – the wage demands will go up. They’ve already lost Strettle. Camacho, apparently, is next.

I am pro-wage cap. I remain pro-wage cap. But must admit the fact that Harlequins’ possible reward for developing these players will be to lose a considerable number of them once they hit their best is not something I’m comfortable with. England needs clubs like Harlequins, as evidenced by the fact that they’ve got six players in the squad to face the Barbarians, and several others with grounds for complaint. Robshaw had best be missing because he’s too good to risk in that game. I’m not saying remove the cap. But a degree of flexibility to reward clubs like Harlequins, and clubs like Leicester and Northampton who provide the spine of the England team, should be included.

Anyway, I’d rather talk about the Baabaas game now. Or rather, the ridiculous squad picked for it. Don’t get me wrong. I like it and wish I was going, which wasn’t true until I saw it. But Johnson could not make his feelings clearer about this game without resorting to Catherine Tate impressions. I mean, Brookes, Mullan, Kitchener, Clegg and Trinder? All players I’d love to see in an England shirt (except maybe Clegg, who is not as deserving as Freddie Burns if you ask me) but if they’re going to the World Cup I suggest we all keep our holidays clear as clearly a selective disease is targeting English rugby players. Why have we picked three fly-halves for one game anyway? However, in his imperious disdain, Johnson is handing out some good early chances for youngsters to shine and stake a claim for post-world cup. In particular I think Kitchener and Marler could be England fixtures very quickly afterwards. And if this starts the process for getting Brookes tied to England, I am all in favour. I am mildly curious as to why he’s chosen to tie his fortune to England instead of being the guaranteed next starting Irish tighthead for until he’s John Hayes’ age, but there’s no reason to look a gift prop in the mouth. Although it does look odd that he was so little used by England U20 last year, and now here he is getting a taste of senior life.

I’m going to finish this entry on a lighter note. Apparently Ulster’s lack of second-rows has driven them to the point where they’ve basically asked every tall athlete in the province to turn up and see how they go. Yup. Tall, Athletic, Determined, fancy a crack at a pro rugby career? If you’re Irish, get thee to Ulster. Me, I’m wondering if they’re not casting their net a little too wide. I appreciate that to a large degree the duties of lock basically go “Be really big” and “work hard”. Oh, and “jump”. But even in the second row there are some intricacies. So I’ve put together this little questionnaire to help sort the wheat from the chaff…

A fight has broken out and the ref’s spotted it. Are you:

a)      Sauntering away from it having thrown the first punch with no one on the opposition any the wiser it was you.

b)     Nowhere near it.

c)      Caught redhanded drawing back your fist for another go – and since you’re going to get binned anyway, you might as well…

The ball comes to you with the opposition short on numbers. Do you:

a)      Run at the nearest man and put the afterburners on, hoping to either brush off the tackle or get an offload away

b)     Throw a twenty five yard miss-pass and promptly cut the overlap down to a one on one

c)      Lumber back towards the opposition and try to trample the first man in the wrong coloured shirt you see.

Ahh, line out time. Your call is:

a)      Do a little shuffle in the middle suspiciously reminiscent of proto-morris dancing before soaring like an eagle to catch it at the back and provide some quality ball

b)     Some sort of clever dick move in which the scrum-half pops into the front.

c)      Straight to the front. Straight down. The scrum-half’s screaming for it. Ignore him, he’s an odious little tit. Instead, beckon the boys in for a maul.

The tryline beckons! You are here because:

a)      You’ve just run a lungbursting support line to get there and crash over as the backs are too girly to break the last tackle on their own

b)     You were loitering on the wing waiting for the cross field kick.

c)      Its the tenth pick and drive. The fly-half now hates you because the pack ignored a three man overlap to dot down in the corner instead. Good.

A candidate who answers mostly As could do well in the second row, but frankly seems a little too cunning and glory hungry. And fast. Is probably destined to play 6.

A candidate who answers mostly Bs barely counts as a human being and will probably migrate to the backs. They’d probably be more use playing basketball.

A candidate who answers mostly Cs however is the real McCoy. A true, old fashioned lock, the sort of man who ends up playing prop years later for someone’s 4^th side after scrummaging’s knocked the height out of him and he’s got fat. Only problem is he’s so old school he’ll spend most of his life suspended; just think of it as squad rotation. Maybe Mallinder should sign Attwod and Cudmore.

Stade Francais v Clermont Auvergne

This all French encounter will take place tonight and the winner will be the first team to book their place in Cardiff for the final weekend. Traditionally you’d back Stade Francais to win at home, however Stade Francais have been really poor the last couple of years. The fact that Stade Francais weren’t in the Heineken Cup this year is the direct result of their very poor finish in the league last season. This year the story is no different – they are 10th in the French league, a full 14 points behind 9th place Perpignan and with only one game left to play – if they lose to Clermont then their season is over.

Clermont Auvergne though are 3rd in the French league with everything to play for there, as well as making a good account for themselves in the Heineken Cup pools – doing the double over a Saracens team that has hardly lost in the Aviva Premiership and being the only team to defeat Leinster in Europe so far this season. Clermont are previous winners of the Challenge Cup, doing so at a time when French clubs tended not to take this competition seriously, so they should travel to Paris willing to give it 100%.

On paper Clermont should win this, plus they won here 20-12 only two weeks ago. However all French affairs in Europe tend to be unpredictable affairs and a desperate Stade side could upset a Clermont side that might have one eye on the French play-offs.

Munster v Harlequins

Tomorrow’s semi final will be between two teams with very different domestic stories. The hosts sit very comfortably at the top of the Magner’s League, a home play-off place secure and have their destiny firmly in their own hands. The visitors though seem glued to 7th place in the Aviva Premiership after having an inconsistent season and will be sweating over European qualification. Their destiny is very much out of their own hands and will have to rely on Bath and London Irish slipping up, as well as Northampton winning the Heineken Cup.

On paper you wouldn’t be surprised if a team failed to get out of a pool containing the Ospreys, Toulon and London Irish – however this is Munster we are talking about, a team that everyone just assumes will reach the quarter finals every year. It wasn’t just missing out, it was the fact that they went to Toulon in the penultimate pool match and got spanked. Munster are a team that have a reputation of going to difficult places like the south of France with everything hanging in the balance and coming out on top. This is a team that is seen as being past their best, particularly as Leinster race past them as the leading Irish province. However Munster have had their critics in the past and have silenced them, and it’s doubtful that they can’t silence their critics again.

Harlequins have had a mixed season – they went ten matches unbeaten, still in the mix of three tournaments, reaching the knocks out of both cups, before being involved in a losing streak and being reduced to only really being in one tournament. Their season is probably best demonstrated by losing at home to relegation strugglers Newcastle in the LV= semi finals before then going on to put 50 past the in-form Gloucester. Quins will hope to replicate the sort of upset that they produced in Paris a few years ago, but they could very easily get beaten comfortably here. The odds are against Quins – the only major away scalp they’ve taken this season was against Northampton on New Year’s Day, and have only won two away league matches.

Munster should win this, it’s only really a question of by how much. No offence to Quins but they’ve lacked consistency this season and haven’t taken any major scalps for a while. Munster have only lost once in Europe at Thomond Park and have beaten teams much better than this Quins team.

The 22-year-old, who has tasted top flight action with Harlequins, follows latest recruits, Gloucester scrum-half Jordi Pasqualin and Kiwi duo Jamie Helluer and Richard Mayhew to Kingston Park.

Speaking from his home in Surrey, Frazier said: “I can’t wait to move to Newcastle. This is an exciting opportunity for me and I always wanted to play my rugby in the Aviva Premiership.”

Frazier reveals that the professional set-up in the north-east was a factor behind his decision to up-sticks, adding: “I was very impressed with the set-up up there. When I met with Alan he laid markers down for me and I am really looking forward to working under him, starting with preseason.”

Head coach Alan Tait said: “He is a good young kid, and he is hungry to make it at the Premiership level again after getting a bit of a sniff with Harlequins.

“At 6 foot 3 he is a good size, and he is a really athletic prop who can offer a lot in the scrum and around the park. He has learnt a lot from getting regular rugby in the Championship, and he feels like he is ready to make the step up.”

Man-mountain Percival started his career in the Academy at Warriors and gained international recognition during his time at the club, as a member of the England Under-21 team that won the 2004 Six Nations Grand Slam.

The 27-year-old second-row – who is 6ft 5in tall and weighs 18st 8lb – joined Northampton Saints in 2005 before later joining Harlequins in the summer of 2007.

Percival, who previously studied at Worcester Sixth Form College and Worcester University, has made a total of 57 appearances for Quins and will now join up with Warriors from the start of the 2011/12 campaign.

“Phil Davies and I have been looking closely at the make-up of our pack of forwards for next season and we firmly believe that James Percival will be a fantastic acquisition for Warriors,” said Head Coach Richard Hill.

“James offers huge physicality, will do exactly what we want him to do on the field and adds a real abrasive and hard edge to our pack.

“He also brings with him the added benefit of having been here before so he knows the club and area very well and will settle in quickly.

“Everyone I have talked to at Worcester who has worked with James in the past has spoken very highly of him and the same can be said of Harlequins who I know will be sad to see him leave.

“It’s fantastic to get a player back who clearly cares so much for the club and we hope in the future that other players who have left us will be able to make a return and big impact.”