Courtney Lawes

Right me and my mates were discussing him last night with varying opinions....

Whats your opinion of him.

Will he fulfil his potential and become a key player in Englands engine room...or is he not all the hype and falling behind other guys coming through...?

He's been unlucky with injuries recently but he's falling behind at the moment. He's missing the South Africa tour isn't he?

My locks would be Botha and Parling starting, Tom Palmer on the bench with Garvey and Launchbury there for the midweek games. Courtney Lawes could easily find himself dropped to the Saxons in next year's EPS if a couple of those really show up in South Africa.

He needs to fire out the blocks at the start of next season and make a huge impact for Northampton to basically demand inclusion in the England team. But if he doesn't then there are other good second rows that are ready to step up for England.

Ultimately I'd back him to be successful. He's still only 23 and could be in and around the England set-up for the next 10 years.

the hype was too much before his debut. hes been unlucky with injuries but i would still back him to be a starter in a year if he puts his niggles behind him and continues to bulk up.

he is different, but as good as imo, as either parling or botha. botha especially i dont rate and i would like to see parling/garvey or attwood for a while then lawes to come in for parling

Given I am Saints fan, I am a bit biased. But I have seen him a lot and I think he has the potential to be terrific. Certainly agree the injuries have him behind others at the moment. And he will have to come out banging on all cylinders to get back to the England squad.

His strengths are his running with the ball, tackling and work rate. He takes the ball up very well and gets across the line with regularity. He is one of the best tackers in the team and his engine never stops. A rumour had started somewhere (not in Northampton, I can assure) that he was lazy. That is absolutely wrong, he works very hard in the matches and the coaches have praised his work rate in practise.

When he first came up he was a bit of an unguided missle. But he has worked hard to get that under control. If he continues to focus in training, hard not to do with that coaching staff, I think he has the potential to wear England colours for a long time to come.

His lineout work is decent at the moment but improving markedly, as one would expect from a young lad. Saints have played him a number of times in the back row and consider him a strength there as well, showing he has diverse skills.

There are a number of players coming through though, so he'll want to get a move on next season. Craig and Launchbury will probably both end up as locks, Matthews and Barrow are both potentially top class and Kruis is developing nicely.

There are also slightly older players like Garvey, Kitchener and Attwood who could easily step up. That's on top of Parling, Botha, Deacon and Palmer who he's competing with at the moment.

I agree Dave. He will need to start the season on fire. This is good for England to have tight competition amongst quality young players. And within limits, I feel fairly objective in my evaluation of Lawes. I don't want one of my guys playing for England only to not give England the best chance to win.

Lawes is an outstanding athlete of which there is little doubt. I sometimes think he is "trying too hard" in every aspect of the game instead of just concentrating on what he does best. He is not an enforcer IMO but has far greater attributes which he needs to consider when he has the ball in hand. He has good hands but lacks vision. For me he is not a naturally nasty guy and some recent off the ball altercations suggest for me that his head is not in the right place and reinfrorce my suggestion that he's trying to play on adrenalin sometimes instead of using some nous. A good coach can make the most out of this talented lad but somehow I get the impression he may be the forwards version of Dave Strettle; lots of attributes and head and shoulders above many on the club scene, yet not quite real international class. A big season ahead for Lawes and he needs to focus more on his brain and not his brawn IMO, only then will he fulfil his undubted potential.

Good player, not a fantastic lock though. Great to have on the pitch due to his work rate but is a poor carrier and not great in the lineout.

I'd potentially like to see him turn out with Parling but he can't seem to stay fit.

I do wonder if he'll end up a 6 (again).

DaveM wrote:I do wonder if he'll end up a 6 (again).

Worryingly, he's been the victim of injuries this year and I think it's blighted his potential. I really really hope he doesn't become one of these players who sporadically plays for club and country in between rehab and physiotherapy. He's undoubtedly a physical specimen and great athlete, but I just hope he really takes the time off in the next few months to fully recover and get to 100%.

As for tour this summer, I would like to see Parling and Garvey as the starters, with Palmer or Attwood on the bench. Botha on tour, but he needs to prove he can carry the ball effectively and stop the incessant knock-ons.

I'm coming round to the idea of him as a 6 who can cover lock at all levels more and more.

Would be interesting to see him play in the backrow along side Morgan and a specialist 7.

I like Lawes and think that he is a quality player. That said, in light of recent incidents he does attract the ref's eyes too much and is possibly singled out more than most players.

If he has a good year and keeps out of trouble then i really can see him coming back strongly.

Good coaches don't pick the best player in any position, they pick the best partnerships to contribute towards an optimal team performance.

Personally I like the Lawes/Attwood combination.