England’s finest right to the end
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Now here's a little in-house admission. A couple of months ago, when England were playing Fiji at Twickenham in that rather disappointing and poorly attended World Cup warmup match, I was down to write a live comment piece. Something or somebody from the game that deserved further focus and scrutiny.
It was Courtney Lawes' 100th England cap and as the great man led the team onto the field with his four children it was the obvious piece to write and I got cracking. Except as the afternoon unfolded it increasingly became less of an option. Courtney, not long back from injury, was probably the pick of the England forwards, but generally Steve Borthwick's team were massively misfiring and towards the end the previously unthinkable loomed large. A first-ever England defeat against the Pacific Islanders.
As Fiji stretched their lead to 30-22 in those final minutes, I pulled the plug. Courtney deserved better than this. His Test rugby tribute piece could wait for another day because, as sure as night follows day, he would star for England at the World Cup no matter how the team fared generally. Instead, in record time, I hurriedly smashed out a 1,000 words in praise of Fijian rugby which had clearly become the story of the day.
But now we have the chance to return to Courtney and pay full homage to one of England's greatest-ever servants and ambassadors in the old sense of a player who represented his nation with honour on and off the field. An individual who became a role model whether that was his intention or not. In terms of dedication to the game, fitness, his club and being an inspiration for those coming back from injury and of course as a flag bearer for black and mixed race players.
It was back in October 2008 – Friday, October 10 to be precise – that I first heard of Courtney Lawes although I had never seen him play and indeed wasn't to see him play for another month or so.
The previous night, Northampton, sans the teenage Courtney, had walloped Toulon 56-3 in the European Challenge Cup at Stade Mayol and over a reviving beer much later that night down by the harbour it emerged that Saints coaches Jim Mallinder and Dorian West would be in the market for a lift with us to Montpellier the following day where the home side and Bristol were meeting in the other pool game.
And so it came to pass that Jim, Nobby and the snapper Dave Rogers headed west the following morning on a splendid cross country jaunt via Arles. Driving time was about four hours including our leisurely pit stop and I reckon for at least half of that Nobby waxed lyrical about some kid called Courtney Lawes with Jim nodding agreement. To my chagrin, because I pride myself on keeping abreast of the top age group players, the name meant virtually nothing.
Dave and I occasionally tried to change the subject with our august fellow travellers. Could rugby crack it as an Olympic sport? Is there any way English club rugby could break even and, the old chestnut for long journeys, who was the best uncapped players they had ever seen? But Nobby would not be headed off at the pass and kept coming back to the Northampton wonder kid he was working with.
The teenager Nobby described was tall, rangy, athletic, possessed basketball hands, was nimble, boasted a big engine, had an incredible tackle technique and huge lineout potential. He was confrontational and probably, at this stage, a little hot headed and fiery but the only slight negative I can remember is that Nobby reckoned he was a bit scrawny and needed to beef up a bit to avoid possible knocks. Indeed he was nursing a knock at this very moment, otherwise he would have been down in Toulon with them.
Fifteen years, four World Cups, two Lions tours and over 100 caps on and just about everything still rings true save that caveat over his temperament which he learned to control fully within months of becoming a fully-fledged senior pro at Saints. And, yes, he still needs feeding up.
Eddie Jones spent much of his tenure trying, unsuccessfully, to increase the poundage of the Saints man. Country was told he could order whatever he wanted, day and night, on room service at Penny Hill. He was that blessed human being who never puts weight on.
And that's important because it helps explain his stellar career and longevity.
Lawes has never lost that teenage athleticism and agility and that's why over the entirety of his professional career he has been just about the best and fairest tackler I can recall.
He repeatedly uses his pace, quick feet and flexibility to get into the best positions to make his textbook thunderclap tackles. In that respect he shames many of his fellow professionals, they must hate him for it and the way he consistently shames their less textbook and effective challenges.
Mostly, he put the fear of God into No. 10s and burly midfield types – France's Jules Plisson still feels his ribs on wintry days after he tangled with Courtney many years ago – but I suppose the tackle everybody remembers first is his incredible chase back and try-saving tackle to deny Tonga full-back Telusa Veainu at the death a few years back.
He exits the Test scene at the peak of his powers, England's best and most consistent player at this World Cup. He goes on his own terms and with the best wishes of everybody in the game.
