Boyd explains why Lawes missed Saints' clash with Bath

Lawes missed Saints' 40-19 win against Bath last Saturday as he was on an enforced rest week following England duty.

Karl Wilkins stepped into the six shirt and played superbly as he helped his side secure a bonus-point win that moved them up to third in the Gallagher Premiership.

But Saints are set to be able to call upon Lawes for their Champions Cup opener at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night.

"They (England players) have got their EPS rest week so he needed to have that," Boyd said.

"He'll be back Friday."

Boyd also allayed fears over Dan Biggar, who played against Bath with his thigh heavily strapped and who came off during the second half.

"He could have carried on - we just wanted to give George (Furbank) a run at 10," Boyd said.

Saints scored six times as they consigned Bath to a ninth defeat in as many Premiership matches this season.

And Boyd was asked whether he had sympathy for his opposite number, Stuart Hooper.

"Absolutely," Boyd said.

"In that Covid time we went through a pretty lean period.

"It's tough being a coach in that environment when you don't seem to be able to buy a trick.

"They lost their nine and 10 (Ben Spencer and Danny Cipriani) pretty early on Saturday and that didn't help their cause.

"Things go from bad to worse for them but at the end of the day, they'll come out of that hole at some stage."