World News – UK – Eddie Jones hit as Courtney Lawes banned from England fall tests

Eddie Jones has received another heavy blow and will be forced to shuffle his pack before after Courtney Lawes was ruled out for 12 weeks, ensuring he will miss the Six Nations final as well as the Cup of the Fall Nations

Lawes injured his ankle in Northampton’s loss to Sale and after seeing a specialist he will be operated on Jones will already be without Manu Tuilagi, who has been sidelined for six months with an injury to Achilles suffered in the same match and with George Kruis bound for Japan, all of a sudden his options to lock – traditionally a position of strength – seem slight

He still has Maro Itoje and Joe Launchbury to call, as well as Charlie Ewels and Alex Moon of Northampton – although the latter two only have 12 caps between them Prior to confirmation of Kruis’s move to Japan, Jones had used Lawes more recently as a blind flanker with Tom Curry used as No.8

Lawes’ absence means a huge reshaping of Jones’ pack, not least because new interpretations of the split amplified the benefits of having fast, efficient back row rowers on the ball, with Wasps’ Jack Willis in particular attention-grabbing

« Just looking at Jack he has a very good awareness of this situation, so his awareness leads to anticipation, » said England assistant coach John Mitchell « Secondly, he is physically quite flexible in this area, and thirdly, he is not afraid, he just dares, in terms of decision-making and he is very decisive in this area. You are not always going to do it right but it is definitely decisive « 

With wasps reaching the Premiership semi-finals, Willis is out of the England camp and long-term injuries mean he hasn’t been selected for any of Jones’ squads since his initial inclusion in summer 2018 He has been widely tipped to win his first cap this fall, having achieved a record 43 turnovers this season, more than double any other Premiership player.

He faces fierce competition from players including Ben Earl, Tom and Ben Curry, Sam Underhill, Ted Hill and Lewis Ludlam in an area which not so long ago was sorely missed by England

Mitchell added, “You really have to consider the fastball and more contestability, and what are the implications for us in this area? What strengths do we have? How can we deny the opposition and how can we gain an advantage? All these kinds of things that I envisioned with the subtle changes in this area, it’s actually about creating awareness and being very clear about the accountability that is required of standards in these areas

« This is what is so exciting about training and sports, you have to constantly adapt when you are faced with new things and you are forced to adapt and find a way, and this is just one area of ​​the game where I guess players have already experienced this in their clubs

« Now you move to another level and it’s faster and more intense where you have to be faster and your decision making has to be more decisive »

Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints, England, National Rugby Union Team, Injury, Eddie Jones