2026-03-14 12:30:13

Courtney Lawes has questioned the resilience of England’s young rugby stars.

Steve Borthwick’s team bring a disappointing Six Nations campaign to a close against France on Saturday (14.03.26) and Lawes feels the tournament – which has seen England lose to Scotland, Ireland and Italy – has been a “massive wake-up call” for some of the inexperienced members of the team.

He wrote in The Times newspaper: “Up until now those younger lads have known only sunshine and rainbows in their international careers.

“This Six Nations has been a massive wake-up call. They are getting a real taste of what rugby is like when the sport that means so much to them is not going well. It can crush you and destroy your confidence.

“This is not a dig at anyone’s background – but this might be the worst point in their lives.

“So how can they be properly equipped to deal with the pressure from coaches because of their performances and from external voices because of the results?”

The former England flanker believes that some of the current squad are too “sheltered” and suggested that a TikTok dance performed by some of the players last year highlights this.

Lawes said: “The younger generation of players coming through, especially in England, are quite sheltered.

“You only have to look at the TikTok dance that Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman, Freddie Steward and Fin Smith recorded last autumn.

“My God, I could not imagine any other team in England’s history where that would have happened.

“I’m not saying it was unacceptable or a bad thing. I’m just saying there’s a difference between the boys who want to do that kind of stuff and the boys who have been through the wringer and have faced pretty hard times.”

Lawes feels that Borthwick must shoulder some of the blame for the nightmare campaign because of his team’s safety-first rugby.

The former Northampton player said: “The more that England have underperformed, the more risk-averse Borthwick has become with the game plan.

“The standard of attacking rugby in the Prem is high. There are some unbelievable tries being scored every week from first-phase shape, from multi-phase rugby and lineout launch plays.

“That’s where questions need to be asked. Our ability to score tries has been appalling. England just want to kick before we’ve even fired a shot.”

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