Mike Brown insists he is over concussion after five-month lay-off

Mike Brown has insisted that he is fit and ready to return to England's starting 15 after recovering from a severe concussion.

Brown has not played competitively since England's 55-35 defeat of France in March due to the effects of a concussion sustained against Italy earlier in the Six Nations.

"I can't wait to get out there, to get back to business and do what I love doing best and that is playing rugby to a high level," Brown told reporters. "It has been a long five months. It all seems so long ago and there is absolutely no doubt that I am good to go.

"The symptoms, which mainly involved headaches, and not really bad ones that might make you feel ill, just niggly ones, were all gone by the end of May, early June.

"I simply would not have been able to do the intensity of training that we have been doing if there had been any hangover. Rest was the cure in the end. I had to let my head sort itself out, settle down, and once that was done everything was fine."

Brown starts at fullback for England when they face France this evening in a strong backline that includes George Ford, Jonny May and Jonathan Joseph.