WALLABIES ARE BRUSHED ASIDE BUT LAWES HAS WARNING OVER SPRINGBOKS
COURTNEY LAWES has warned England they need to step it up against the world champions at Twickenham next week after helping Eddie Jones’s side ease past the Wallabies.
England have not faced South Africa since they lost in the World Cup final in Yokohama just over two years ago.
South Africa have overcome Wales and Scotland in the past two weekends and also beat New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
England only gave away nine penalties in the win over the Wallabies but there were a couple of soft ones that Lawes says must be rubbed out to get revenge over the Springboks.
The 32-year-old, whose side ran in two tries, from Freddie Steward and Jamie Blamire, to none from the visitors, said: ‘We need to be better in terms of the penalty count as that’s an area against South Africa where we would be in a bit of trouble.
‘We’re looking good in attack, it is just about maintaining momentum and adding to it this week. In the first half, I felt we could have pulled away but we kept them in it with sloppy bits around the breakdown and penalties. They went after the breakdown hard and got a bit of success there. We need to have a look at that and tidy up.
‘The forward battle is going to be the most important, I can tell you that without thinking.’
Lawes aims to make his fourth World Cup in 2023 having survived Eddie Jones’ cull that saw Mako and Billy Vunipola and George Ford dropped from the squad.
He captained the team for the first time last weekend against Tonga and was one of the older heads against Australia who kept the show on the road when England struggled to shake off the visitors.
Jones added: ‘He is getting towards the end of his career but he wants to be part of this side going to the World Cup. The senior players had to dig deep today, those guys played a big role for us.’
Australia head coach Dave Rennie admitted: ‘We just couldn’t get going. We made too many errors and gave away dumb penalties. It’s frustrating.’