Eddie Jones has heaped praise on the development of Courtney Lawes from a poor first impression six years ago to England captain with his best rugby ahead of him at 33.
Lawes is back from a head injury – an issue with his vestibular system, rather than his brain, the player said – to captain England against Wales this weekend in his first appearance since January 16.
Lawes excelled as England captain in the Autumn but, with Owen Farrell injured, he handed over to Tom Curry for the defeat to Scotland and win in Italy.
Jones has opened up on how he was “not that impressed” by the veteran forward when he first took over as Head Coach six years ago.
Lawes changed his ways and will win his 91st England cap (he also has five for the Lions) when he lines up on the blindside on Saturday.
“I always remember watching him for England and he was like this torpedo coming out of the line and drilling people,” he said. “That was the most significant part of his game.
“When I first got here, I must admit I was not that impressed by him. His attitude was very laidback, he had a lot of injuries, he didn’t train much. He had to come up to the standards of what we require in the team and he has done that brilliantly.
“I could not fault his dedication and his discipline now. He knows his body and looks after his body well. He is committed to being the best player he can be, but he hasn’t changed as a person, which is fantastic.”
Jones went into greater detail about what he felt Lawes needed to improve.
“I don’t mind the club sandwiches because he needs to keep weight on,” he laughed. “It was not looking after his body in terms of the rehab and he needed to train harder. He wasn’t training hard. He was doing more rehab than training hard, but he sorted that out very well. He’s a real role model for our team.
“I think he’s got a great mind-set at the moment. He’s committed to being the best player that he can and he wants to play at the next World Cup. It was his birthday yesterday – 33. He had a big chocolate cake and they couldn’t find enough candles to put on it!
“I’ve never seen him in such a good frame of mind. He’s focused on his rugby but he’s still that laconic, relaxed fella. There’s no reason why his best rugby can’t be ahead of him.”
Lawes remembered being fired a warning by Jones.
“I guess I knew I had to change and adapt to keep doing what I wanted to do which was to keep playing for England and I had the dedication to do that,” he said.
“That is what I went out and did. It has been the best thing I could have done because it means I have been able to give everything I can to my career as a player. When I have finished one day I will be able to look back and say I gave it my everything.
“He didn’t tell me about my standards in training. He essentially said ‘I need you to hit and carry and if you can’t do that you won’t be in the team’ so at the time I was still good at D but I had let my carrying game go by the wayside. I knew I had to stamp on that again and get back into it.”
Jones said he is confidence in Lawes’ fitness for the game, despite his time out, citing his performance against Tonga in the Autumn – which included a stunning try-saving tackle – as evidence that he is often at his best with little lead-in.
“He’s had a pretty solid preparation for the game and the one thing that we know about Courtney is that he tends to play pretty well fresh on to the paddock,” said Jones.
“That’s our experience with him. He’s got quite a unique body, Courtney – he’s fast-twitch but he’s tall and skinny, so it’s easy to get the work into him, which has happened, so we believe he’ll be able to play a significant role in the game.”
