Lawes future at Saints still up in the air

NORTHAMPTON flanker Courtney Lawes remains in negotiations about his future after the Rugby World Cup.

Lawes, 33, is contracted to Saints until 2024 but has a break clause in his deal which could see him leave this summer.

Northampton chief executive Mark Darbon. said: “In an ideal world we’d love to keep him.

“We have discussions which are a live situation at the moment but we’ll have clarity in the coming weeks.

“By his own admission he’s had a frustrating year with a bad run of injuries.”

Lawes has made just four appearances for Saints this season and was restricted to one outing for England during this year’s Six Nations, as a replacement during the win over Wales in Cardiff.

Lawes is one of several high-profile England stars linked with a potential switch abroad.

Leicester wing Anthony Watson is another, while Exeter’s Sam Simmonds and Luke Cowan-Dickie are heading to Montpellier, with Jack Nowell understood to be heading to La Rochelle.

A transfer to France would prevent Lawes from playing for England after the World Cup and Darbon added: “I would contest that there’s not enough incentive to stay.

“The players love their clubs, one of the big questions is how you enable an international to thrive in the club game. To me that’s about detangling the challenges and issues with the calendar.

“If your internationals are always away it’s more difficult to justify those investments. So how do we make sure the club game sits nicely alongside the internationals and our supporters get to see players like Courtney Lawes thriving for England and Saints?”

Asked if clubs should consider central contracts with some of their star players, Darbon said: “That’s not our model. We have to manage our budget to be competitive. We’d like the best English players playing in England because it’s good for the English game.”