It's all stepping up a notch now, however, according to Brown as Gloucester start to crank things up a notch ready for the start of the Aviva Premiership season.
And, even though the Cardiff fixture will be a testimonial game for Brown and Gloucester team mate Nick Wood, it's a game that will be taken seriously.
"In terms of the Cardiff game, it's important to bear in mind that this isn't going to be an end of season type exhibition game. It actually forms quite an important part of our preseason preparations.
"All the hard work that we've put in to date with Nigel and the new staff, the ten days in Tignes, they've all been part of the process as we build up to the start of the Aviva Premiership season. And the Cardiff game is an important step in that process."
It's been a summer of change for Gloucester but change can be a positive thing and Brown, currently taking par tin his 15th preseason as a professional, is enthused about the way Gloucester are heading.
"We've been through quite a few changes over the summer as everyone knows, with a lot of new faces coming in. The energy is high and we need to keep that going.
"Tignes was great from a team building point of view. We weren't privy beforehand to what we were going to be doing. All we knew really was that we'd be working at altitude.
"But it was the sort of thing that you just can't do once the season has started, there just isn't time when you potentially only have two or three days of training per week once you've done your recovery and analysis.
"It's all good the for the squad, we're going in the right direction. There's been a lot of energy around the place in the past few weeks."
