England skipper Courtney Lawes reveals he was sent for brain scans

England skipper Courtney Lawes reveals he was sent for brain scans while sidelined for almost three months with nerve damage in his neck, which forced the Northampton forward to sit out the entire autumn international series

• England captain Courtney Lawes has said he had to have brain scans after injury
• The 35-year-old missed three months of rugby with nerve damage in his neck
• Lawes made his return to club action last week for Northampton from the bench
• Lawes admits he was ‘sad’ to see Eddie Jones get fired from the England job

England skipper Courtney Lawes has revealed that he was sent for brain scans while he was sidelined for almost three months with nerve damage in his neck.

Lawes missed the entire autumn international series, which ended with Eddie Jones losing his job, and only returned to club action with Northampton last week.

He played down fears around his brain, insisting scan results were positive after he sought reassurances about his long-term health.

England skipper Courtney Lawes (left) reveals he has had to have brain scans after injury

‘Everyone thinks it’s a lot to do with my head but it’s my neck that’s been taking so long,’ revealed Lawes.

‘I’ve had nerve damage around my cranial nerve and it takes forever to get back feeling good again. You can get some fascial treatment and acupuncture but really it’s just time.

‘The initial hit I got was on the back of my head. I probably had concussion for a couple of weeks and then I came back, tried to play three weeks later, and cranked my neck quite badly in a maul. From then on, it was an uphill battle.

‘It’s all to do with the vestibular system, which is kind of to do with your brain but it’s heavily impacted by the nerves on the back of my head. If you’re locked in a room and you can’t stare at any lights then it’s one thing, but I was pretty much fine, just not quite right.’

Having featured against La Rochelle off the bench last week, Lawes will make his first start since September for Northampton in tomorrow’s Champions Cup game against Munster.

Lawes had to miss almost three months of action – missing England’s autumn internationals

The 33-year-old revealed he will play through the pain threshold after receiving assurances that the issue does not have a high risk on his long-term health.

‘I don’t know what the scans showed but the specialist was happy with it,’ said Lawes. ‘They can tell if you’ve had a bleed on the brain or if it’s not right. It was nothing out of the ordinary for me.

‘I suppose it is quite worrying but he explained to me that your vestibular system is to do with your eyes and the back of your neck. It’s not to do with brain damage. I was more worried about what it means for the future because you hear a lot of stories. The specialist reassured me and said it can increase your chances but not by much. Generally, it’s your genetics which determine if you get things like dementia and stuff like how much you’re drinking and how healthy you keep yourself in later life.’

Lawes worked at corporate events at Twickenham during the autumn internationals, watching from the sidelines as Jones’ seven-year tenure as England head coach unravelled.

He revealed that players were not consulted by the RFU during the review, admitting his surprise at the decision to change coach nine months out from the World Cup.

Lawes returned to club action last week when he came off the bench against La Rochelle

‘I wasn’t (consulted) and I’m not sure if any players were,’ he said. ‘Obviously, it was tough to watch. You want to be out there and we didn’t get the results we wanted.

‘From the Australia tour we were going in the right direction, I thought we had made a lot of strides towards the World Cup. To not be able to make progress on that this autumn for whatever reason — it was hard to watch.

‘Because you’re removed from the last camp and you don’t know what has happened, what has gone on or how the players and staff were really feeling, there’s not much you can say about it.

‘I was quite surprised at the decision because it’s so close to the World Cup. Eddie has got a pretty good track record at World Cups. The last couple of years haven’t really gone our way but the World Cups are different for us because we get to spend so long together, we get to be a proper team for three or four months.

‘I was sad to see him go, definitely. I know I’m one of the lucky ones, he didn’t give me much stick and he was ultimately really good for my career.

‘I know that’s not the case for everyone so people may have different opinions but for me, personally, I was sad to see him go.’

The 35-year-old admitted that he was ‘sad’ to see former England boss Eddie Jones let go 

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