English rugby union player Courtney Lawes competes for Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Premiership as a second or back row. He has appeared for his team more than 250 times.
Lawes took part in the Six Nations Championship in 2016, the year when England won their first Grand Slam in over ten years. On England’s 2016 tour of Australia, when they won all three tests, he also featured. Later that year, against South Africa, in his fifty-fifth match, he scored his maiden try for his country. The team for the 2019 Rugby World Cup included Lawes. He started each of the three knockout games against Australia in the quarterfinal, New Zealand in the semifinal, and South Africa in the championship. Lawes was also a part of the 2020 Six Nations Championship-winning team. He led England for the first time against Tonga on November 6, 2021.
On April 19, 2017, it was revealed that Lawes and George North, a colleague from the Saints, would be travelling to New Zealand with the British & Irish Lions for their summer tour. For the second game of the tour, the Lions’ matchup against the Blues, Lawes received his first Lions starting position. As the series came to a tie, he did not play in the first test but did appear in the second and third test from the bench. Lawes was also chosen by British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland for the team’s trip to South Africa in 2021. He began each of the three tests at flanker as the Lions fell behind 2-1 in the series.
