Former England lock Paul Ackford believes Martin Johnson should keep the powder dry on Courtney Lawes for the time being, in The Sunday Independent.
"England play Wales in a fortnight and the clamour is growing to start Northampton forward Courtney Lawes in that match. It's more than a media campaign. England manager Martin Johnson and his senior coaches are keen to play him too. Lawes is a fantastic athlete: hard, aggressive, quick, predatory, with all the instincts of a Test stalwart. He is precisely what England require to bring some devil to their sluggish forward effort. But Lawes is 20. His only sniff of Test rugby so far has been a 12-minute appearance off the bench against Australia in the autumn. Is he good to go now?
"I don't think so. Not yet anyway. If Lawes were being introduced as a new member of an impressive, stable England front five, then there would be no problem. It wouldn't matter who England were up against because there is no doubt that Lawes, provided he stays healthy, has a fabulous future ahead of him."
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