Courtney Lawes wants Lions call but won't do England U-turn – report
Courtney Lawes has issued a come-and-get-me call to Andy Farrell, the likely head coach of the 2025 British and Irish Lions. The Northampton forward called time last month on his England career following their third-place finish at the Rugby World Cup.
Despite being in excellent form at France 2023 and also skippering Steve Borthwick’s team in their early matches at the tournament versus Argentina and Japan, the 34-year-old decided that he won’t be available any longer for his country.
Now back at the Saints and playing in the Gallagher Premiership, he insisted he won’t be making a U-turn on his decision and declaring himself available for the 2024 Guinness Six Nations.
However, he told media this week at his club’s conference ahead of next Saturday’s trip to Saracens that he wouldn’t say no if he was selected to tour Australia with the Lions in 2025 at the age of 36.
“If, through some kind of fluke, I got another Lions call, I would probably do that,” enthused Lawes. “But I can’t imagine with the amount of good back-rowers we have got in Britain and Ireland I would get on the tour anyway.
“It’s two years away, but because it is in Australia I would definitely bring the family out for the whole trip. But I won’t be playing internationally then, so you couldn’t test me on that stage. I might not be playing rugby at all. Who knows? We will see what happens.”
England are currently enduring a post-World Cup injury crisis in their back row as Tom Curry and Ben Earl, the two players Lawes packed down with in last month’s semi-final versus South Africa, are currently sidelined. Curry’s hip operation has ruled him out of the rest of the season while Earl had surgery last week on his meniscus and will be out for between six to eight weeks.
“It is my luck we have got a back row crisis when I am actually fit,” Lawes commented. “Normally I am part of the back row crisis. But I would have to get the call first.
“No, I am done to be honest. I didn’t stop playing internationally because I thought I couldn’t play or couldn’t get in the team; I stopped playing because I need to be here for my little ones, and that hasn’t changed. I know the back row might have changed a bit, but that hasn’t.
Lawes, who was on the Lions tours to New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa in 2021, has a 10-year-old, an eight-year-old, and twins who are nearly six.
“Playing for England is special to me, but you are at home for two months then you are away for two months, then you are home and you never really get a chance to settle in and create any structure in your life for you and your kids. A Lions tour is once every four years and is just a different occasion.”
The veteran’s decision to retire from Test rugby with England has since been followed by Owen Farrell, who took back the England captaincy from Lawes at the World Cup, revealing that he won’t be available for the upcoming Six Nations due to his need to mentally refresh.
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to comments