Itoje takes a step up as Lawes gets chop
COURTNEY LAWES was last night jettisoned from the England squad on his birthday. Maro Itoje was promoted above him in the second-row ranks and may even start against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Northampton lock, who has won 44 caps and appeared at two World Cups, was in the first-choice XV against Italy. But now he has dropped out of the match- day 23 for the next round of the RBS 6 Nations, with new head coach Eddie Jones demonstrating his ruthless streak by leaving out the 27-year- old in favour of a rookie who has played only 28 minutes of international rugby.
Itoje made his debut as a replacement in Rome 10 days ago and the Saracens prodigy produced an eye- catching cameo as England claimed a 40-9 win with a late surge. He was sent on at blindside flanker but is destined to feature against Ireland in the second row.
Wasps lock Joe Launchbury has been hampered by a minor hamstring strain which prevented him from taking a full part in training yesterday. The indications last night were that he will be fit for Saturday, which means he is sure to start. But Itoje has trained with the starting pack and will be on standby if needed.
Wasps centre Elliot Daly has been called into the match- day 23 for the first time as reward for his fine club form this season. Jonathan Joseph missed part of training yesterday and Daly filled in at outside centre, but he is expected to be on the bench.
The England squad are aware of the hype around Itoje, but also of the staggering potential the 21-year- old possesses. Flanker James Haskell said: ‘Maro’s a great player. He’s a bit of a double-edged guy — he’s quite quiet normally but he’s quite loud on the field.
‘He doesn’t have an ego, which is great. We know all about when the media or when people latch on to a player and bang the drum. At the moment he is riding that wave, so we will obviously give him banter about being the “chosen one” and “people’s favourite”.
‘He has more champagne than the whole of France for his man of the matches, but we don’t have to worry about that kind of ego thing because he is very humble, very quiet and he works very hard.
‘He’s trained extremely well. He’s very strong, very physical. I thought when he got his opportunity against Italy he came on and went well. When Eddie decides to put him in — whether this week or in the future — I think he’ll give a good account of himself.
‘The thing with Test rugby is that it is very difficult to come in and be unbelievably sensational because it is a step up. His exposure in Rome was just as the Italians were dipping down so he was able to show his strength and get a couple of good turnovers with the physicality he has. I’ve every confidence he will feature a lot. I don’t know when but he is certainly up there to be able to play.’