He might have announced his retirement from England duties, but he’s not finished for Saints, judging by his all-action part in this Friday night display.
Boss Phil Dowson said he had run out of superlatives while former teammate Dan Biggar, TV pundit for the night, declared he was “King Courtney”.
Toulon would surely had won if Biggar, nursing a bad back, had started, but they imploded in the last five minutes, losing two players to the sin bin, when they led 19-15.
Lawes, 34, out of contract next summer, held court afterwards saying cheerfully that he still had unfinished business for his home-town club.
“I’m hoping to stay but we will have to see what happens,” he said about those contract talks.
Saints want to establish themselves as Champions Cup contenders after two dismal campaigns. However, Lawes realises there’s a lot of hard work ahead and two initial pool wins are only the start.
This story is from the December 17, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the December 17, 2023 edition of The Rugby Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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