Lawes, Tuilagi provide boost for England

COURTNEY Lawes has rejected offers from abroad to sign a new deal with Northampton. The 34-year-old England forward, who has 97 caps, made his Saints debut in 2007, the first of 263 appearances.

“I know our supporters will be thrilled that he has decided to stay and remain a one-club man,” said director of rugby Phil Dowson.

“I’m sure a lot of clubs over in France and Japan would have been keen to see Courtney turn out for them.”

Lawes said: “The club means a lot to me and I wanted to stay here. It’s so important for us as a squad to continue to build on what we’ve done over the last few seasons.”

England team-mate Manu Tuilagi has signed a one-year contract extension with Sale. The 31-year-old said: “We’re so tight as a group, which is why I think we’ve had such a good run this season. It was an easy decision. I love coming to work every day.”

It is good news for England coach Steve Borthwick with Joe Marchant, Sam Simmonds, Luke Cowan-Dickie and David Ribbans all set to leave the Premiership and join Tom Willis in the Top 14 next season.

Christian Day, general secretary of the Rugby Players Association, this week urged the RFU to temporarily lift restrictions on overseas players representing England.

Former Northampton lock Day says the Premiership’s £5m salary cap has forced England stars to look abroad.

Toulouse flanker Jack Willis is the only overseas player eligible to play for England after Wasps’ collapse. Day argues that the current rule should be paused until the salary cap rises to £6.4m in 2024-25.

“If the cap continues to be suppressed then we will continue to say the players can’t get fair value in this country,” Day said.

“For people like Jack Willis – and there are one or two others – who can’t get fair value in this country at the moment primarily because the cap’s suppressed, we think they should be able to go and be selected. We think that should exist next year as well.”