Courtney Lawes warns ‘very similar’ successor over becoming a ‘net benefit’ to England despite ‘explosive’ attributes
England flanker Chandler Cunningham-South and former Red Rose forward Courtney Lawes.
England great Courtney Lawes has been impressed by Chandler Cunningham-South’s start to his international career but has warned the back-rower that improvements are needed.
Despite being just 21, the flanker has already become a key part of Steve Borthwick’s squad and started every game in the Autumn Nations Series.
Cunningham-South’s power and athleticism are obvious, allowing him to make an impact on both sides of the ball.
All Blacks forward Tupou Vaa’i certainly felt his presence after the lock was crunched by the Harlequins star in a massive tackle during the first Test in November.
Those highlight reel moments are quickly becoming synonymous with the youngster, but Lawes insists that it won’t automatically make him a world-class player.
Similar to Lawes
The ex-England skipper knows himself having developed hugely during his career to become one of the premier back five forwards in the sport.
“He’s been very similar to the start of my career. The start of his career was relatively explosive, straight onto the scene with big hits and good carries, which is obviously a great place to start,” the 35-year-old told TNT Sports.
“I just hope he continues to work on the smaller details. Because while that stuff is great and teams need it and can get a lot from it, there’s a lot of minutiae that needs to be done for you to actually be a net benefit to your team.
“As long as he continues to work hard, to learn from the people around him and the coaches and develop his game as a whole, I think he’ll be a really, really good player.
“He can keep that stuff that he does, the carrying and hits, and if he builds more attributes around it he’s just going to become a better and better player. If he’s driven he could definitely lock down that six shirt.”
Lawes worked as a pundit for TNT and watched on as his former international team-mates succumbed to the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks.
The forward, who now plays for Brive in France, felt a couple of changes could have made a difference but, ultimately, does believe that Steve Borthwick’s men are not too far away.
England will head into the 2025 Six Nations under pressure after a disappointing second half of the year, but Lawes insists the talent is there.
‘Got to learn very quickly’
“I would have liked to have seen Tommy Freeman in the centres. He is a deceptively strong runner, and has actually got deceptively good hands as well. He’s a really good option for somebody that opposition teams have to defend, but you can also play through him,” he said.
“I think he’s definitely an option in the centres somewhere, and that would free up a place for both Ollie Sleightholme and Manny Feyi-Waboso – they are probably the two best wingers in the country at the minute.
“In general, this team has got a lot to learn and we’ve got to learn very quickly. We’ve got a lot of new blood and people that have not been in the fire.
“They might have been around the squad for a long time, but they’ve not played in those big games and World Cup semi-finals or finals, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia three games in a row.
“We’ve got to learn as quickly as humanly possible, get as much experience, wring every bit of juice out of every game, and I think we’ll quickly become the team that everyone knows we can be.”
