England have downplayed concerns over Courtney Lawes’ fitness ahead of their Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday.
Lawes is set to captain Steve Borthwick’s side in their Pool D opener in Marseille.
Skipper sits out capping ceremony
The experienced forward took part in England’s first training session since arriving in Le Touquet on Thursday but missed the capping ceremony because of ‘soreness’.
England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth revealed that Lawes, who is likely to skipper the side in the absence of the suspended Owen Farrell, sat out the function merely as a precautionary measure.
“Courtney is a bit sore from training on Friday so we decided the best thing for him was to not sit in a chair for an hour or so then have to stand up,” Wigglesworth said.
“He is resting at the hotel. He is a bit sore from training – the pitch was heavy because of the rain. Nothing too serious, we are just looking after him.
“We have a few little bumps and bruises like everyone has, but I think we will go into next weekend with a pretty full bill of health.”
Wigglesworth also issued positive updates on back-rower Tom Curry, prop Kyle Sinckler, back Elliot Daly and forward George Martin, who are all carrying knocks ahead of the Marseille opener on September 9.
Curry missed all of England’s preparation matches due to an ankle injury, and with Steve Borthwick naming his side to face Argentina on Thursday, time is running out for him to prove his fitness.
“Tom should be good to go,” Wigglesworth said.
“We are hopeful everyone is going to be ready, we don’t know yet, but we think we should be good going into the game.”
Improvement needed
England enter the World Cup off the back of a historic loss to Fiji in the last game at Twickenham before the global tournament and have won just one of their last six Test matches.
However, Wigglesworth is confident that they will improve.
“We know we need to improve, but I’m not going to pluck a percentage out of the air,” the former England scrum-half said.
“There are a few things we have got to get right and to improve. The lads have started getting into that over the last few days. We’re confident that we’ll improve and give a good account of ourselves.
“We know where we want to go as a team, we know how hard we’re working. The lads have been first class.
“We need to get it right in Marseille against a very, very good Argentina team, who are ranked really highly and are led exceptionally well by Julian Montoya, who I know well.
“But there’s no doubt that we have a high level of ability and determination in our group to go out there and play really well.”
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The article England downplay Courtney Lawes’ absence ahead of Rugby World Cup opener appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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