1
'Wasn't that impressed': Jones' brutal first impression of Lawes
England boss Eddie Jones has admitted that he wasn’t a fan of his current skipper Courtney Lawes when he first arrived from Japan as Stuart Lancaster’s successor following the 2015 World Cup. The 33-year-old forward had been playing for England since a 2009 debut but ex-Australian coach Jones wasn’t an admirer during the early part of his first year in charge.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lawes was capped in seven of Jones’ first nine matches in charge in the first half of 2016 but just two of those appearances came as a starter and it was only across the 2016/17 season that he eventually found favour with his new boss as he started in nine successive Test games over the November and Six Nations campaigns.
Having been sidelined these past six weeks with a concussion issue stemming from a European game last month with Northampton, Lawes has been restored to the England team for this Saturday’s round three Six Nations game at home to Wales. He will also skipper the team after Tom Curry had that responsibility when Lawes was absent for the games against Scotland and Italy.
The reinstatement highlights how much of a fan Jones currently is of Lawes, who celebrated his latest birthday on Wednesday, but it wasn’t always that way. Asked what his first impression of Lawes was when he took over as England coach, Jones didn’t sugarcoat his opinion.
“I always remember watching him for England, he was like this torpedo who’d come out of the line and drill people and that was the most significant part of his game and when I first got here I must admit I wasn’t that impressed by him,” he said.
“His attitude was pretty laidback, he had a lot of injuries, didn’t train much and he had to come up to the standards of what we require in the team and he has done that brilliantly. I couldn’t fault his dedication and his discipline now. He knows his body, looks after his body well. He is committed to being the best player he can be but he hasn’t changed as a person which is fantastic.
“I don’t mind the club sandwiches because he just needs to keep weight on. It was not looking after his body in the rehab and training. You need to train hard – and he wasn’t training hard. He was doing more rehab than training but he sorted that out very well and he is a real role model for our team now.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Jones dismissed the suggestion that Lawes might be undercooked for a Test match of the intensity expected against Wales given how he missed the opening two rounds of the championship this month with England due to his January 16 concussion when playing for Northampton.
“He has had a pretty solid preparation for the game and the one thing we know about Courtney is he tends to play very well fresh out of the paddock. That is our experience with him and because he has got quite a unique body, he is fast-twitch but he is tall and skinny so it is easy to get the work into him which happened and we believe he will be able to play a significant role in the game.
“He has got a great mindset at the moment. He is really committed to being the best player he can and he wants to play on to the next World Cup. It was his birthday Wednesday, he had a big chocolate cake for 33 and they couldn’t find enough candles to put on it. I have never seen him in such a good frame of mind that he is focused on his rugby but at the same time, he is still that laconic, relaxed fellow.
“There is no reason why his best rugby can’t be ahead of him. You just recall that game against Tonga (in November), when again I don’t think he played a lot of rugby before that, and he made that tackle on Sione (Vailanu) in the right-hand corner coming from absolutely nowhere.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
Sometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to comments