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Lawes doubtful for England’s summer tour after ‘nasty’ thumb injury
The 33-year-old suffered a compound dislocation of his thumb playing for Northampton Saints against Gloucester Rugby; he will now see a specialist and has ‘medical decisions’ to make according to Saints’ Chris Boyd; England’s three-Test series against Australia starts on July 2
Last Updated: 20/04/22 9:38am
Courtney Lawes could be a doubt for England’s summer tour of Australia after suffering a compound dislocation of his thumb.
Lawes, who captained England for part of this season’s Six Nations Championship, was hurt during Northampton’s European Challenge Cup defeat against Gloucester last weekend.
Saints’ director of rugby Chris Boyd has ruled Lawes out of the Gallagher Premiership trip to Bath on Saturday, with further medical opinion required.
Northampton are pushing for a play-off place in the domestic competition and have four games left in their regular season. The Bath match is followed by games with Harlequins, Saracens and Newcastle Falcons.
“Courtney had a compound dislocation of his thumb, quite nasty,” Boyd said.
“The bone actually came out, but it either popped back in or was put back in, and it has been irrigated and sewn back up again.
“He has still got some medical decisions to be made around the skeletal function of the thumb and the muscle and ligament situation.
“All I can clearly say, until we get a medical view, is he won’t play on Saturday. He needs specialist consultation to make a decision on what is the best course of action.”
On the international stage, England are due to face Australia in a three-Test series in July.
Eddie Jones’s team will first meet the Wallabies in Perth, before heading to Brisbane on July 9. The final Test will take place in Sydney on July 16.
Every match is live on Sky Sports and the team will also play a pre-tour fixture against the Barbarians at Twickenham on June 19.