My fourth World Cup felt like a good time time to bow out
Despite retiring from England, Courtney Lawes said he will still play for the British and Irish Lions. “My fourth World Cup felt like a good time to bow out,” Lawes said. I’m not doing it because I want to be with my family and I don’t think I could perform well enough to make the squad. If I were still playing and got called up by the Lions, I would very likely accept the call-up. It would be awesome to go on one more tour.
Courtney Lawes discusses his retirement from England in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, revealing that he would still play for the Lions.
Although Courtney Lawes will be retiring from England duty after the Rugby World Cup in 2023, he informed Sky Sports he would represent the British and Irish Lions in Australia in 2025 if picked.
Lawes, a forward for the Northampton Saints, had an exclusive interview with Sky Sports at Franklin’s Gardens. He explained why he thought it was time to retire from Test cricket, saying he wouldn’t play for England again even if called upon, but he would make himself available for another Lions tour if selected.
Sky Sports has secured the rights to the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live between June 28 and August 2.
Lawes, 34, represented the Lions on their last two tours in 2017 to New Zealand and 2021 to South Africa – the latter a Covid-ravaged series played behind closed doors – featuring in five Tests. He retired from England in October, having picked up 105 caps between 2009 and 2023.

“I hadn’t played for England in a very long time—14 years is a very long time to play at that level. It felt like a decent time to retire after competing in four World Cups, Lawes said to Sky Sports.
“I want to be with my family, so I’m not doing it because I don’t think I could play well or make the squad.
“Being there for my four small children is very essential to me because they are growing up quickly. And I believe that I must be.

“So that’s mainly the reason I retired to be honest. The World Cup was just a great occasion to do it.
“I’m still very much pushing myself, I don’t think I’ll ever feel like I’ve quite got to my potential, but I’m still pushing and will until I’m finished playing.
“When that drive goes is when I know it’ll be time to call it a day. But not quite yet.”

In response to the question of whether he would return to England in the event of a call before of the 2024 Six Nations, Lawes states that he would not and that he does not anticipate head coach Steve Borthwick contacting him following their talks.
But that would be a different story for a third Lions tour.
“I doubt that [Borthwick] would make a call. Prior to my call, I had a conversation with him, and he seemed to be a family man. He knows why I’m ending this for the day.
“I doubt that he would ever give me a call, and I’m not sure that I could handle retiring after all that!
“With the Lions, if I’m still playing, and still playing well and got a Lions call-up I would probably do that yeah. One more tour would be pretty cool.”
British and Irish Lions 2025 tour schedule
Date | Opponent | Venue |
---|---|---|
Saturday, June 28 | Western Force | Perth |
Wednesday, July 2 | Queensland Reds | Brisbane |
Saturday, July 5 | NSW Warratahs | Sydney |
Wednesday, July 9 | ACT Brumbies | Canberra |
Saturday, July 12 | Invitational AU-NZ | Adelaide |
Saturday, July 19 | AUSTRALIA (first Test) | Brisbane |
Wednesday, July 22 | Melbourne Rebels | Melbourne |
Saturday, July 26 | AUSTRALIA (second Test) | Melbourne |
Saturday, August 2 | AUSTRALIA (third Test) | Sydney |