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No Lawes, Curry at England training but son of ex-Test prop helps out
By Liam Heagney
Courtney Lawes was missing from Tuesday’s England pitch session in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, but assurances were given that the skipper’s availability wasn’t a concern for next Sunday’s Rugby World Cup pool match versus Japan in Nice.
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The 34-year-old forward produced a performance for the ages last Saturday in Marseille, leading his 14-man side to a comfortable – and unexpected – 27-10 victory over Argentina in their first outing at France 2023.
England came into the tournament on the back of five defeats in their last six matches.
However, despite the loss of Tom Curry to a third-minute red card, they fought off the Pumas with an inspired performance in which out-half George Ford kicked all 27 points – including a 10-minute first-half drop goal hat-trick.
Lawes was said to be resting – and he wasn’t the only member of the 33-strong England squad who was absent from the field session as Curry, who will have his virtual independent disciplinary hearing heard on Tuesday evening, was also elsewhere.
To balance training numbers this week ahead of the clash with the Japanese, head coach Steve Borthwick has called in the 25-year-old Newcastle wing/centre Ben Stevenson and the 19-year-old Bath No8 Arthur Green to help out.
Green’s father Will is the former England prop, who won four caps during his lengthy Wasps career.
George Kruis, the now-retired starter in the 2019 World Cup final versus South Africa, was also a training ground addition as was brought in on a temporary basis to help Borthwick drill the lineout.
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This goes back to the 2nd test against the Lions. Look at the results against SA, Lions,English,France and Irish. ABs only win 30% of the big games. Way to much player power from Savea, Smith,BB and Cane. Savea has never been an 8. Cane has always been average. Smith can pass, nothing else. BB was the greatest player on the planet until 2017. Now he is alful to watch and has been for 5 years. They bring in young players, don't play them enough and take them to a world cup ie. Williams. Really ? Foster is and has always been a coach that is desperate for approval and wants to be liked. He should never have been appointed. He has done to the ABs what he did with the chiefs. Nothing! It was all over years ago. Razor will make a huge difference.
Go to commentsWhat absolute bollocks! Libbock is a maestro at flyhalf and has transformed the Springbok backline into an amazing unit. Pollard cannot do that. Poor captain decision to not rather go for the corners and use the Bok strengths to go for 7. They did not back themselves.
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