England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot confirmed that Courtney Lawes is going through his return to playing practises ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations opener at Murrayfield.
With the situation looking doubtful, Proudfoot said: “Courtney (Lawes) is still going through his return to play processes and is progressing through that.”
“We have to follow the process. With concussion it is important we follow that process. If we have 1% of doubt, we won’t play him!
“He is raring to go and is progressing through what the docs instructed him to do. Let’s see how we go. It’s only Tuesday today so we have five days to go.”
World Rugby‘s six-stage Graduated Return to Play protocol must be followed before a player is cleared to participate in full contact training or playing. The average time to complete this process for a player in the English Premiership in 2018-19 was 22 days.
Captaincy
With captain Owen Farrell ruled out of the tournament and Lawes a doubt for Saturday- the door opens for one of England’s leadership group to captain the side.
Proudfoot confirmed in today’s press conference that Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry and Ellis Genge join Courtney Lawes in England’s leadership group.
“Courtney’s style is a collaborative style of leadership. Each player has their own role, and they support each other really well. If one has to step in, they are comfortable as they support each other.”
He said: “In the scrummage session today, the way Ellis led was really pleasing.”
“Also, Tom (Curry) leads by example with the way he trains. Each of these guys that support Courtney has their own speciality. The intensity was spot on.”
Curry appears to be the favourite to take over. But, it has not been confirmed.
Injuries
England have been decimated with injuries to key players this Six Nations.
The one unknown is how likely lock Jonny Hill will be to play. Last week, Exeter Director of Rugby Rob Baxter said: “Jonny Hill has – some people call it a stress fracture, some people call it a stress reaction – to his lower leg and high ankle. He has been in a boot to offload that.”
Proudfoot added: “We will have a look at Johnny Hill’s process. So far, everybody is in a good state.”
There was a positive for England as Joe Marler returned to full training yesterday following last week’s positive Covid-19 test.
Proudfoot on his Scottish roots
South African born former Scottish international Proudfoot said that being involved in a Calcutta Cup fixture at Murrayfield was a “special occasion.”
Proudfoot’s grandfather Bob was born in Scotland but moved to South Africa during the Second World War – and was the key reason Matt qualified to play for Scotland.
His grandfather introduced Matt to Northern Hemisphere rugby at an early age.
He said: “Having had my grandfather who was a big supporter of mine as a Scotsman always makes me think of him when I’m there (at Murrayfield). It ties me to home and makes me think of the opportunities that my father and grandfather gave me.”
England’s pack
England’s pack is going to be vitally important if they are to succeed during the Six Nations.
“A dominant pack is what we always work towards. The way the players have trained has been a real positive,” he said.
“We’ve put a lot of fundamentals in place in our Brighton week and to see the intent in today’s training was really pleasing.”
With big players missing due to long or short term injury, England will be reliant on less-experienced players to step up to the fore over the Six Nations. November’s victory over World Champions South Africa showed the world the new England.
The keyword that Proudfoot tried to get across was the need for a resilient England team. He said: “We have worked hard since last year to build a resilient team. Players accepting the challenge regardless of who is in the jersey is something we have been trying to create.”
“If that’s the case, you’re going up to a hostile environment like Murrayfield – you want them to be resilient.”
On Saturday’s Scotland fixture, he outlined: “There will be times when we are in the ascendancy and others when Scotland will be. If you put more of those scenarios together, that’s how you win a test match.”
The future of England’s coaches
There have been whispering murmurs coming out over recent weeks that the RFU may seek a coaching shake up should Eddie Jones‘ team falter in the Six Nations in a similar vein to last year.
A bullish Proudfoot said: “Every time England plays a test match is an important game. We are well aware of it as custodians of the team, that we want to put the team on the best foot. We feel the expectation and we embrace it.”
By Ben Redwood
