Lawes’ delight as his Saints trophy dream comes true

The tough-tackling lock put in a gargantuan performance in the 24-20 play-off final success against Saracens last Saturday.

It made amends for a defeat in the Premiership final a year earlier and in the gut-wrenching Heineken Cup showpiece in 2011.

And it was the realisation of a fantasy for Lawes, who came through the Saints Academy system.

“People will always doubt you, but we have only really lost two major finals,” said the England star, who played in both of those games.

“We are a young team, we are really maturing, and we still have a lot of people coming through.

“A lot of the lads are now, like me, 25, 26 or 27 , and it shows in the games as we are in our prime.

“Hopefully we can keep that going, and keep improving.”

“You can go your whole career without winning a major final, and it is unbelievable that we have done it.

“It is history, it is a memory, and we just need to enjoy it.”

Saints achieved Premiership glory thanks to a late intervention from Alex Waller, who touched down in the dying seconds of extra-time at Twickenham.

It looked likely that Jim Mallinder’s men would plump for a drop goal as they only needed three points to claim a draw, and win on tries scored.

But Saints continued to go through the phases, with Lawes’ fellow Academy graduate popping up to claim hero status.

And Lawes said: “I was knackered and couldn’t think of anything - apart from making sure we keep the ball!

“A drop goal would have sufficed, but a try makes it better. And fair play to Waller for taking it on.”

Interview by Jeremy Casey