COURTNEY LAWES HAS spent the winter adding more than a stone of muscle to his athletic frame in advance of what promises to be a physical contest against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The England forward is now back to full fitness after a back injury earlier in the season and has bulked up to just over 18 stone after ‘eating whatever I want’ and doing ‘a load of weights’.
Lawes revealed he struggles to put on size regardless of what he eats — “it’s just genetics” — and lost a lot of muscle when he was unable to lift weights for six weeks during his layoff with a bulging disc last November.
The injury forced the 29-year-old to miss England’s opening Autumn Test against South Africa, but he came back to feature in the games against the All Blacks, Japan and Australia, while building up his minutes again with Northampton.
It means Lawes is in prime condition ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations opener in Dublin, where he will hope to win his 71st international cap.
“After my back injury I’ve managed get my weight back on again and I’m feeling strong so I’m ready to go,” he said, at England’s camp in the Algarve yesterday.
If I get the opportunity I’ll look forward to getting out there and putting in some tackles.
“Any weight that I can put on is only going to help me. I struggle to put size on and my fat never goes up regardless of what I eat. It’s not ideal when you want to be 117kg and you can’t get past 115kg. It’s just genetics. A bit bigger would be great, but I can work at my weight of 115kg.
“As soon as I start running my weight just falls off. I can’t put on size unless I do a load of weights and eat a load of stuff. You get an opportunity to do that in England camp so hopefully, I’ll put on a bit more, but I’m around the right weight now.”
Lawes adds: “I just eat whatever. It doesn’t really matter what it is. We do meal counts in terms of your fat percentage and mine never go up, no matter what I eat, so I just pile into whatever I can.
“I try to eat as many calories as I can. I don’t count the calories, I just shovel food down my throat. I’ve put on just over a stone since the Autumn.
“I couldn’t do weights for six weeks because of my back and it wasn’t good — I’d got pretty thin. I certainly feel the difference in terms of hitting and being able to get through contact a bit easier. Now I feel that I can take on that role of stopping people.”
With Brad Shields in a race to be fit after a side strain, Lawes is an option for Eddie Jones at blindside flanker, while Jack Clifford has flown home after suffering a head injury in training.
The England pack will look to gain the upper-hand at the set-piece and at the breakdown on Saturday evening, while there will likely be a big onus on stopping Ireland’s half-backs, Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray, dictating proceedings.
Lawes, known for his fearsome tackling, may just be tasked with disrupting Sexton and Murray.
“I’m not the kind of person who randomly takes someone out,” he says. “It’s fine lines.
“But if I am trying to get to the half-back before he passes and my head goes down before he has passed, then I am going to make the shot regardless of what the ref says.
“But I’m not going to be taking any risks at the weekend, for sure. I’m going to stay in the system. My first priority is getting our forward pack on the front foot. After that is when Sexton comes into the game.”
Join us to preview the Six Nations with Simon Zebo, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey on Thursday @7pm in Liberty Hall Theatre Dublin.
