He’s competitive, he gets stuck in and he’s not afraid to stand his ground, but Newcastle Falcons rugby ace Pete Browne could never be a dirty player.

The number eight says his faith could never allow him to intentionally hurt an opponent.

The athletic back-rower has made real strides in his rugby this season after completing his Durham University Theology degree last summer.

And while many Christians might not on the face of it sit so easily with some of the harsher aspects of a game like rugby, vicar’s son Browne said the whole balance is only what you make of it.

“The great Samoan coach and All Blacks international Michael Jones once said ‘It’s better to give than to take’,” he explained, admitting he constantly works on improving his physical impact. “And he was talking about tackling and the whole Samoan culture of absolutely smashing people.

“But they do it legitimately, most of the time. So it is better to give than take, and in many ways I’m not a naturally angry person, and the whole physicality thing is something my size aids, but it’s something I really have to keep working on, and I think I’m getting much better at it.

"I’m still living with students, which is enjoyable, but I graduated in the summer and that’s been good for my rugby.

“People obviously think the theology degree is linked to the church, and my dad is a reverend, but in lots of ways I haven’t really thought beyond the next couple of years.

“The way I see it, it is what God wants me to do, and I’ve got to be open and willing to hear from Him, and I’m an open book as it were.

“It’s exciting to have that qualification. I don’t know how I’m going to use it, but we’ll see what happens.

“My dissertation was all about an organisation called Christians In Sport, mainly critiquing that from a mission perspective and what its aims were.

“I don’t think they’re used to getting theology students writing dissertations on sport, but it’s not that unusual an occurrence to combine the two in life.

“My dad played rugby too, so the way I was always brought up to see it was that my sport is a gift from God, and lots of guys see that. For some reason I have been gifted with size and speed, and I hope I’ve got the aptitude to apply myself. So I see that as a gift, and there is the whole dirty side of rugby. While I play hard, I try to play fair.”

Browne is a committed member of the group of Falcons players led by club chaplain Matthew Knox in a weekly prayer meeting.

Along with Filipo Levi and Josh Afu, the quartet review their week on all levels, meet socially and take lessons from the Bible.

There is an open invitation to the whole squad, but for now, Browne said the general interest remains tentative.

“It’s a real encouragement to have some guys here whose reasons for playing are similar,” he said.

“Our motivations are similar, but also being able to pray with the guys is really great. There’s Filipo, myself, Josh and the Reverend of course, and it’s open to the other guys too, but none of them have taken it up yet."