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England deliver the latest update on their wait for Courtney Lawes

(Photo by Getty Images)

England assistant Matt Proudfoot has described Courtney Lawes as “raring to go” for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match away to Scotland – even though he is still only negotiating his way through the return to play protocols with Eddie Jones’ squad following the concussion he suffered while playing for Northampton last month.  

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The would-be England skipper took a blow on January 16 when playing for the Saints against Ulster in the Heineken Champions Cup and Nick Isiekwe of Saracens was called into the England squad last week as injury cover while Lawes was left to progress through his return to play protocols. 

With the injured Owen Farrell unavailable for the entire championship, the expectation was that Lawes would again take on the responsibility of the captaincy after he filled in twice during the Autumn Nations Series when Farell was absent. 

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However, Lawes now appears to be very much in a race against time with the countdown on towards Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield – although Proudfoot and England are still giving him every chance of coming right just in time for the 2022 championship campaign opener.  

“Joe (Marler) will be okay for Saturday, trained full-out today [Tuesday]. Had a good scrummaging session with Joe, so he is looking good. Courtney is still going through his return to play processes and he is progressing through that, and we will have a look at how Jonny Hill comes through his process. So far everyone is looking in a good state,” said Proudfoot at the delayed media briefing England held on Tuesday afternoon.  

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“We have got to follow the process,” he added with regards to Lawes. “With concussion, it’s very important that you follow that process and if we have one per cent of doubt we won’t play him – but he is raring to go. He is progressing nicely through what he has been asked to do, what the doctors have structured for him and he is right on top of it. Let’s see how we go. It is only Tuesday today, there is still a couple of days to go.”   

Having suffered a fifth-place finish in last year’s Six Nations, England have since remoulded their leadership group and Farrell came into the November series with Lawes, Ellis Genge and Tom Curry all named as vice-captains. Curry filled in on media duties last week at the official Six Nations launch in Lawes’ absence and Proudfoot reckons England will have no issue with leadership if the 32-year-old’s name doesn’t feature in the XV when Jones names his round one team at 11.45 on Thursday morning.   

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“Eddie has got a good leadership team in place that lead the players on the field. The two you mentioned [Luke Cowan-Dickie and Curry], and Ellis Genge is part of that. Particularly in the scrummaging session today the way Ellis led has been really pleasing. Obviously, Tom leads by example, the intensity he trains with. Each one of those young guys who supported Courtney have got their own speciality where they are leading and I must say the intensity was really spot on today.

“Courtney’s style is a collaborative style of leadership and each player has his own role to play and they try and support each other really well. I don’t think it is a case of one guy standing doing the job. They really support in their own way and if one of them has to step in, they are really comfortable to step in because of the way they support each other.”

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TI 2 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Italy | Autumn Nations Series

Rieko took literally years to turn from a defensive liability at 13 into a guy, who’s defensively sound as it befits the position. And it all came at the cost of him being much less of an offensive threat, than what he used to be. Proctor is a natural 13, he handles, passes, and kicks way better than Rieko ever will, he just isn’t as fast.


It’s unfair to judge Tupaea on the handful of games he’s had in 2022 before he got nearly crippled by a Wallaby lock. What could Tupaea/Proctor pairing be, if they got the same amount of chances as Jordie/Rieko?


Because no matter how you spin it, playing a player outside of his natural position is a poor asset management. No matter how talented he is, he still competes against players who had years and years of practice at the position. And if said guy is so talented that he actually CAN compete against specialists, imagine how much better still he could have been, if he had all those years to iron the toothing issues at the position. It just drives me mad.


Two things I hate in rugby union beyond description: aping after league, and playing players outside of their natural position. Especially considering, that they all admit they hate it, when they’re allowed to speak freely. Owen Farrell spent 80% of his international career at 12, saying every time when asked, that he is a 10 and prefers to play at 10. Those players are literally held at a gunpoint: play out of position, or no national jersey for you.

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