Saints win more important than individual awards for star Lawes

Courtney Lawes shrugged off his man of the match accolade, insisting he is just desperate to propel Saints into the Champions Cup.
Courtney Lawes impressed again as Saints saw off Connacht (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)Courtney Lawes impressed again as Saints saw off Connacht (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)
Courtney Lawes impressed again as Saints saw off Connacht (picture: Kirsty Edmonds)

The lock put in another gargantuan performance to help his side secure a 21-15 win against Connacht at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.

Lawes made a huge tackle that effectively ended the game as Connacht lost possession, having failed to grab the converted try they needed for victory.

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It was a massive moment and Lawes was quickly handed the man of the match prize after a display that saw him feature in Saints' top three for metres made, lineouts won and tackles completed.

But Lawes wasn't bothered about personal praise, stressing it was all about setting up the home Champions Cup play-off final against Stade Français on Friday night.

"Connacht came out ready and they played some great rugby," the England and Lions lock said.

“They’ve got a pretty electric backline. We thought we might be able to target the forwards and I thought we did that quite well.

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“It’s never completely in your own hands because you’ve got to play a good team out there but we did what we had to.

“It wasn’t the best performance that we put in but we came away with the win which is the most important thing.

“I’m getting some MOMs which is good, but I’m just playing the best I can for the boys and it’s going well."

Saints will now host French giants and Challenge Cup winners Stade at Franklin's Gardens in a shootout for a Champions Cup place.

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And Lawes said: "We’ll be ready. We’re looking forward to it.

"Stade are very good, they've got a very big pack, like all French teams, and if we front up and stop them there we've got a very good chance."

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