LAWES ROARS BACK
Boost for England as fit-again lock is set to face Springboks
ENGLAND are increasingly confident that Courtney Lawes will be cleared to start the autumn series opener against South Africa at Twickenham, but the Northampton lock must prove his fitness by tomorrow.
The 27-year- old is seemingly on course to reach his half-century of caps against the Springboks on Saturday. He has made good progress in his recovery from a knee injury and there is growing optimism that he will meet the deadline to show he is ready to claim a second-row place alongside Joe Launchbury.
Lawes missed Northampton’s Aviva Premiership clash with Gloucester on October 28 and his director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, cast doubt on his prospects of taking part in England’s first match of the season, saying: ‘I am not sure if he will be ready for the autumn internationals. Fingers crossed there is not too much damage and he will be ready in a couple of weeks.’
When Eddie Jones’ squad relocated to the Algarve last week, Lawes was initially consigned to the gym, but his condition has improved significantly enough to be named last night in the 34-man group which will train at Pennyhill Park this week. In the absence of first-choice locks George Kruis and Maro Itoje, the coaches are desperate to have him available to run the lineout and act as an ideal foil for Launchbury.
Their partnership was a fixture of the pack under the previous England regime with an effective blend of athleticism and physicality. If Lawes is ruled out, Jones may not favour teaming Launchbury with Bath’s imposing Dave Attwood, saying: ‘It’ll just depend on circumstances. It is probably not the right sort of balance.’
England will announce their team on Thursday and the availability of Lawes could have a knock-on effect for the choice of flankers. If he is fit to start, Jones and his assistants may opt to pick a heavyweight back-row trio featuring uncapped Nathan Hughes of Wasps, whereas if Lawes is missing, that would increase the chances of Tom Wood returning as a useful lineout option.
Whoever is in England’s starting XV, they will be full of conviction that they can extend their winning run to 11 games and take another step towards a perfect return in 2016. Asked about that tantalising possibility, full back Mike Brown said: ‘Yeah,h, that would be amazing.
‘We want to win everyry game and we believe wee can do that. Eddie is looking at the bigger picture, but we are just focused on our next game, against South Africa.
‘That will be a huge challenge. No one in ourr squad has ever beatenen them.’ From the wreckage of last year’s World Cup campaign, England have stormed to No 2 in the world rankings this year and Brown added: ‘I think we are building some sort of aura. Teams can see what we are about and there is still so much more we can achieve.
‘It’s great if we build something but in the squad it just builds confidence and keeps pushing us towards the ultimate prize, which is being No 1 in the world and winning World Cups.
‘WheneverW you are part of a team that keeps winningning, you do get that momentummomen and get on a roll. It is massively important to keep momentum in sport, so that is what we want to do.’
South Africa endured a grim Rugby Championship season and on Saturday they could only draw 31- 31 with the Barbarians at Wembley. Yesterday, it was confirmed that their leading centre, Jesse Kriel, has been forced to return home with a leg injury. However, ex-England centre Will Greenwood, who helped to coach the Barbarians, warned that Kriel’s replacement, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, poses a threat.
‘ Tell Paul Gustard ( England’s defence coach) to put someone on him quick,’ he said. ‘He is an absolute cannonball. South Africa have unearthed some monsters.’
Springboks coach Allister Coetzee has further injury concerns as JP Pietersen, Willie le Roux and Ruan Combrinck are all carrying ‘niggles’ as they try to extend their 10-year unbeaten streak against England.