Photo: PHOTOSPORT Brown will leave the franchise immediately to link up with Jamie Joseph to help prepare the Brave Blossoms for their international against the British and Irish Lions in early July. The Japanese take on the British and Irish Lions in Edinburgh on June 26, the match serving as a warmup for the Lions prior to their tour of South Africa beginning in early July. Brown who will still have daily input into the running of the Highlanders, albeit remotely, will hand over the reins on the ground to his assistant Clarke Dermody. He acknowledged the situation is far from ideal.