The England video that Courtney Lawes ‘nearly vomited’ over and the ‘misperception about Steve Borthwick’
Current England back-rower Henry Pollock and, inset, Courtney Lawes.
Ex-England enforcer Courtney Lawes has recalled the video that nearly left him vomiting during the recent Autumn Nations Series.
Steve Borthwick’s side won all four of their November matches, defeating Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina on successive weekends at Allianz Stadium Twickenham.
Their 100 per cent record has left them with an 11-match winning streak heading into 2026, and they have been labelled favourites to win a Six Nations Grand Slam even though they must face defending champions France in Paris in the final round of matches on March 14.
Lawes, who retired as a Test rugby player following the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa, is midway through his second season playing for Brive in the French Pro D2, and he made his eighth appearance of the 2025/26 campaign in last Thursday’s home win over Colomiers to lift his team to eighth place on the table.
‘It’s not my generation…’
The 36-year-old won 105 caps for England during his career and although now based in France, he remains busy on the international scene where his media punditry includes writing a column for The Times.
Signing off on England’s unbeaten November, he felt compelled to reference a video that went viral during the series.
The dance involving Tommy Freeman, Henry Pollock, Fin Smith and Freddie Steward wasn’t the sort of thing Lawes would ever consider doing, but he claimed it was evidence about how head coach Borthwick is willing to embrace off-field characters as long as they deliver on the pitch.
“Everyone has now seen the TikTok dance video that Tommy Freeman, Henry Pollock, Fin Smith and Freddie Steward filmed. I nearly vomited when I saw that. You won’t catch me doing a TikTok dance any time soon. But it’s not my generation. I don’t want thousands of followers on social media,” he said.
“There is a misperception about Borthwick that he would disapprove of that kind of thing and look to stamp out those kinds of characters. Rugby always comes down to one thing – if you perform consistently on the pitch, nobody cares.
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“It was similar to me as I made my way through the game. I wasn’t doing things like TikTok videos but I am not orthodox within rugby in how I go about things. But if you deliver on the pitch, nobody cares.
“That is the bottom line. That will be Borthwick’s attitude to Pollock, 20, and the other guys who have a personality so opposite to his natural demeanour. The only characters you need to rein in are the ones who are disruptive and I don’t think that is the case. This is just a different generation.
“The boys should act however is natural to them. But that is secondary to them being on the same page because it doesn’t matter how many characters and how much energy you have in the team, it will disperse if you don’t have a solid game plan.”
Lawes expressed his delight that England indeed have a solid game plan and are now being spoken about as genuine Grand Slam contenders.
Casting his mind back to some TV work he did in November 2024 at Twickenham, he said: “To think, this time last year I was debating with Ugo Monye on television whether England were in crisis because they had suffered narrow defeats in three consecutive Tests against New Zealand, plus Australia and South Africa.”
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At the time, England lacked composure and clear thinking in the final quarter of matches, but that weakness has now been remedied. “They have solved the final quarter yips by being able to bring on five or six Lions, including Tom Curry and Ellis Genge.
“It is a strategy that only works if you have enough depth so that your starters are good enough. England now have that depth, with guys like Fin Baxter and Joe Heyes coming through. I was delighted that Alex Coles got a chance to show how good he is and become another second-row option, and our back-row is stacked.
“The team are fitter and they obviously buy 100 per cent into the game plan. I have not seen England as aligned and committed to a plan since the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup against South Africa.”
Lawes went on to praise England’s kick-compete game, the precision of their launch plays off lineout and scrum, and the better organisation of their defence compared to a year ago.
“England are now looking like one of the best teams on the planet and we head into the Six Nations with a shot at the title and maybe even a Grand Slam. Crisis averted, then.”
