Courtney Lawes has been backed to regain his England place following confirmation he will be joining Sale Sharks this summer on a one-year deal. The former national captain has spent the last two seasons with Brive in France’s Pro D2 but has indicated he would love to play international rugby again should the chance arise.
While Lawes will be 38 next February and retired from the Test arena after the 2023 World Cup in France, he still feels he can make an impact at the top level of the game. That view is shared by Sale’s director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, who is looking forward to welcoming the former Northampton stalwart to Manchester.
“I don’t think we’d have signed him if he was just a player who wanted a paycheck,” said Sanderson. “That’s not what I’m seeing and the stats don’t reflect that. He’s still got the ability and experience to play some great rugby over the next season, if not the next couple.
“Courtney is robust, dynamic around the park and he hits hard, but he has a fantastic skill set that means he’s so much more than just a banger. He wants to bring people with him and lead from the front and I love that. Plus he’s captained England and knows what it’s like to play and win on the biggest stage. Clearly he also believes in what we’re building. It’s a good fit for him with his aspiration to get back into the World Cup team.”
In total Lawes represented England at four World Cups and spent 17 years at Northampton, winning two Premiership titles and two Challenge Cup trophies. Having also gained 105 caps and won three Six Nations titles for England he is similarly convinced he has more in him. “My body feels good and I’m still performing at a high level. I feel like I can compete with the best of them, and then some, and if I retired now, I’d probably regret it when I was older.
“As a rugby player, you’ve got a very finite career and you’re a long time retired so I want to make the most of it while I can. I’m officially un-retiring from international duty and I’d love to play for England again, but first and foremost I want to play well for Sale and we’ll see what happens after that.”
This week, however, Sale are facing a manpower crisis before Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final trip to Dublin to face Leinster. England squad members Luke Cowan-Dickie and Bevan Rodd have both been ruled out for the rest of the domestic season while the Sharks’ hooker Nathan Jibulu has received a six-week ban for biting his former Harlequins teammate Will Hobson.
The incident took place in the final quarter of Sale’s 26-17 win over Quins on Saturday at the Stoop, where Jibulu was returning for the first time since relocating to Salford last summer. The 23-year-old admitted he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card and escaped a 12-week ban after a disciplinary panel took into account his guilty plea, relative inexperience and previously clean record.
Sanderson believes the incident will prove “a blip in what is going to be a very long and successful career” and “shape the kind of player he is going to be” regardless of whether it undermines Jibulu’s chances of being picked by Steve Borthwick to tour with England this summer. “He’s good now, he’s going to be brilliant,” said Sanderson. “He’s certainly got the attributes to be an international hooker.”*