Courtney Lawes has admitted the World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa marks the end of an era after confirming his intentions to retire from England duty after the tournament.
Lawes, who with 105 caps is England’s fifth-most capped men’s international, will call time on his Test playing days after Friday’s bronze medal match against Argentina. He could be joined by a host of others including Dan Cole, Joe Marler, Ben Youngs and Danny Care, who are all also in the twilight of their careers.
The 34-year-old Lawes made his debut against Australia in 2009 in a side captained by Steve Borthwick, now the head coach. He has been part of the squad at four World Cups and for two British & Irish Lions tours, and he led England on 12 occasions, but is set to step aside to spend more time with his family.
“I’ve said to the boys, anyone that’s asked. I think it’s time,” said Lawes. “I’ve done four World Cups, so I’m pretty happy with that. This was my last World Cup. The kids are at that age where they need their dad around. It will be good to be with them more, to provide some well-needed structure to the mob.
“It’s a bit of an end of an era, but it’s been a real honour for me to represent England for so long. It flies by. I’m proud of the journey I’ve been on. It’s not always been the ups. Plenty of downs in there, but I’ve pushed through.”
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Lawes added: “I’m not an emotional person really, but it’s just been a huge honour for me, to be honest. To be able to finish with this group, it’s something I’ll treasure forever. I think, as hard as it is being away from your family and stuff like that, you almost have another family. You really feel like that, especially when you’re away in camps like World Cup camps.
“It’s five months, staying with your brothers. I’ll definitely miss the boys, the banter and all the stuff we get up to when we’re not training. I’ll miss the hard work as well. And I’ll definitely miss pulling the jersey on and giving it everything.”
England meet Argentina in the bronze medal match on Friday with Borthwick determined to finish the campaign on a high before turning his attentions to beginning the road to the 2027 World Cup at next year’s Six Nations. “I think there’s a lot of growth in this team,” said the head coach. “You’ve seen growth in this tournament. It hasn’t always been linear, or always been a step forward. Sometimes it’s not the straightforward path you want it to be.
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“That’s what I want this week, that we make sure we take more growth and move forward. Then our proper reflection post the tournament, [we’ll think about] the next path. In the adversity, and in the feelings and emotions of the game last night I know that we’ll get stronger from it.”