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'I was really relieved that my head stuff wasn't really serious'
Reinstated England skipper Courtney Lawes has spoken of his relief at finally being able to overcome the concussion issue that left him sidelined these past six weeks. The Northampton forward suffered a blow in the January 16 Heineken Champions Cup loss to Ulster at Franklin’s Gardens and his recovery has taken its time to come right.
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Lawes was expected to captain England in their opening two matches of the 2022 campaign versus Scotland and Italy, but he didn’t come through his return to play protocol in time and the responsibility was instead given to Tom Curry in those matches.
However, the 33-year-old is now fully mended and he was restored to the England pack at Thursday’s team announcement at the expense of Nick Isiekwe with the added bonus that he will also captain the team against Wales on Saturday at Twickenham.
Lawes had led England in their November wins over Tonga and South Africa and he was glad to get back into the mix for the crunch round three Guinness Six Nations game versus the Welsh.
“I feel really good. Although frustrating I was really relieved that my head stuff wasn’t really serious. It was just something I was going to take a bit of time to recover from. I am feeling really good. I have been able to train these last couple of weeks. I am feeling strong and ready to go,” insisted Lawes after Eddie Jones named a starting XV showing four changes from round two in Rome.
The re-appointment of Lawes as England captain will now see history made in the match-up versus Wales. Never before in the previous 137 meetings between the countries did the fixture feature captains hailing from the same club, but that will now happen in game No138 with Lawes contesting the coin toss with Welsh skipper Dan Biggar, his teammate from Northampton. “It’s awesome,” reckoned Lawes.
“It’s great for the club and it’s great for us to get to play against each other and captain against each other. I am looking forward to the banter with the coin toss and stuff like that. I am really looking forward to playing against a good friend.”
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It is only the fourth time in Six Nations history that a club has provided both captains in a game. Ex-Stade Francais colleagues Sergio Parisse (Italy) and Pascal Pape (France) did it in 2013 and 2014, while Toulouse saw Gareth Thomas captain Wales against a Fabien Pelous-led France in 2005. This same club quirk also only happened twice during Five Nations history, way back in 1913 and 1914.
England will be facing a Wales side that also includes the return to fitness of some key forwards. “Tobs (Taulupe Faletau) and (Ross) Moriarty coming back in is definitely going to be good for them. It bolsters their pack, gives them a bit more of that physical edge and experience as well. It will be a hell of a battle upfront. You can see it as a quarter-final as such. We are mad up for it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
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