Courtney Lawes says that he did not want to come off from the pitch in the British and Irish Lions’ 31-all thriller against the Hurricanes.
The second rower had another impressive outing in the red shirt in his 50-or-so minutes on the pitch. His relatively early substitution will have the pundits speculating that the Saints man will be involved in the match day squad for Saturday’s second test against the All Blacks, with Sir Ian McGeechan telling Sky Sports that he would have Lawes starting alongside Maro Itoje in the engine room.
However it was Lawes’s combination with Iain Henderson that caught the eye in the Caketin - which will also host Saturday’s test match - and the England international says that he has enjoyed playing alongside his colleague from Ulster.
“Hendo is a great player and I enjoy playing with him,” Lawes told Sky Sports. “There is so much competition for places in the second row and we both knew that we needed to turn up and play. I enjoy playing with all the guys though, and I thought we played well tonight.
“I didn’t want to come off! It was tough. They came out in the second half but we managed to hold on for the draw.”
