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‘I am onside here, I am going to charge it down’ - Lawes offers his first hand take on controversial off side decision
Courtney Lawes has admitted that “maybe I need to take a step” after being controversially penalised for offside which ruled out Sam Underhill’s solo try that would have given England victory over New Zealand.
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Instead, television match official Marius Jonker ruled Lawes had come up too quickly on New Zealand scrumhalf TJ Perenara to charge down the kick that Underhill then collected to beat Beauden Barrett to the try line.
While debate still rages about the decision which saw England lose 16-15, the Northampton forward is taking the emotion out of the incident pointing out that a 12-11 victory over South Africa followed another big call by the TMO which went in England’s favour after a big tackle by Owen Farrell.
Lawes said: “In the moment I thought ‘I am onside here, I am going to charge it down’.
“There is not a lot I can say. I was deemed offside and therefore I was offside.
“I think the game should just be played by the rules and I don’t know exactly what the offside line was so I can’t really comment on it right now. We will go back and review it. Maybe I need to take a step.
“That was the same last week when we won by a point. Teams at the high end are getting closer and closer. We have to make sure we keep trying to improve and take everything we can out of the game because we played really well. We knew we could beat them and we proved that and moving forward to the World Cup, it gives us a load of confidence.”
Lawes, a second-half replacement, is set to start against Japan on Saturday when sorting out the mis-firing England lineout will be a priority after Brodie Retallick stole three throws for the All Blacks as hooker Jamie George had a nightmare second half.
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Lawes is adamant that can never happen again and said: “I wasn’t calling and I wasn’t even anywhere near the caller.
“I was basically just in there trying to do my job. I know we didn’t make any mistakes in terms of drill and execution. It was good pressure from the All Blacks and they turned over a couple. You should get plenty of practice in the week with both and probably conditions didn’t help. Every team has problems throwing in the wet and it just so happened we had a ton of lineouts (in the second half). We’ll review it and try to make sure that never happens again.
“We had some great driving mauls and I think we were unlucky with some decisions but such is rugby. I think we adapted really well. We kept on trying to put the pressure on them but couldn’t quite convert- but hopefully in a year’s time we will.”
Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
36 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
36 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
36 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
36 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
36 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
36 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
36 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
36 Go to comments