One of England’s most influential figures remains an ongoing injury concern for the end-of-year Tests in Europe.
England captain Courtney Lawes is still suffering symptoms after suffering a head injury five weeks ago, Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson has revealed.
It remains unclear if Lawes will feature when England face Argentina on 6 November, before Tests against Japan, New Zealand and the world-champion Springboks as they continue their buildup to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
The 33-year-old has not played since suffering the injury against Leicester on 24 September, and pulled out of an England training camp in Jersey last week as he follows required return-to-play protocols.
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Owen Farrell, who was also withdrawn from the camp due to concussion, Ellis Genge and Tom Curry are the leading candidates to replace Lawes as skipper if he misses out.
“He went to see a specialist this week. He will keep going through the process until he feels better,” Dowson said after Northampton’s English Premiership victory over Bristol on Saturday.
“It’s day by day with him. He is biking, lifting weights and running.
“He still gets symptoms, and we cannot move beyond that point until he is OK. If he feels brilliant on Monday and he is flying around and Eddie [Jones] wants him to play some minutes, it’s up to him.
“He won’t necessarily need to play for us first because he usually drops right in. It will be interesting to see what Eddie says.”
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