1
Courtney Lawes rumours swirl as England star visits French club's facilities
By Ian Cameron
Rumours continue to swirl around Coutnery Lawes as French media report that the England and Northampton Saints veteran was spotted visiting the facilities of French club Provence Rugby.
RugbyRama report that during a visit on Saturday, the 34-year-old toured the club's facilities and held discussions with members of the Provence staff. The talks centred around the club's ambitious plans and the possibility of Lawes joining on a one or two-year contract.
This development has fueled speculation that the decorated back-five forward might is seriously considering a move away from the Gallagher Premiership. Lawes, who has spent his entire career with Northampton Saints in the East Midlands, sees his contract with the club expiring next June.
Provence, under the chairmanship of Denis Philippon, has been on an upward trajectory in recent years and is not shying away from a desire to break into France's top flight.
The club has already secured the signings of two fly-halves, Jules Plisson and Thomas Soulan, and is now reportedly in talks with Lawes, the former captain of the England national team, to bolster its back row. The club is also eyeing reinforcements in this area as Bilel Taieb, Carl Axtens, Jessy Jegerlehner, Nicolas Mousties, and Teimana Harrison (a former teammate of Lawes) are all nearing the end of their contracts.
There's no doubt that Lawes, who turns 35 next month, remains a formidable force on the field. He not only played as a starter in the last World Cup for England but has also donned the British Lions jersey on multiple occasions.
Boasting 105 caps for England, the hard-hitting lock also been linked with a move to Toulon, although those reports have been totally rubbished by the club.
If he did leave it would be another blow for the Gallagher Premiership, which has seen an ongoing exodus of stars to France over the last 12 months. On Friday it was revealed that England captain Owen Farrell is on the brink of agreeing a two-year contract with Racing 92.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
'Damaging' Jordie Barrett move only helps All Blacks- ex-Ireland wing
3
OTD – Declan Kidney takes step up into Test rugby
4
Max Deegan opts to stay at Leinster over Ulster move
5
Latest Comments
After a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
Go to comments