Phil Dowson believes Lawes is 'absolute gold' as his emotional base level is key to his performance

Courtney Lawes is Northampton’s emotional leader, maintaining the right levels from week to week to sustain a twin title bid this season.

EMOTIONAL LEADER: Courtney Lawes is Northampton’s emotional leader, maintaining the right levels from week to week to sustain a twin title bid this season.

Not that tomorrow’s Champions Cup knockout clash between Northampton Saints and Munster needs spicing up in any way but the latest renewal of rivalries gives us the chance to witness a truly gladiatorial head-to-head between back-row warriors Courtney Lawes and Peter O’Mahony.

Figureheads for their clubs and countries alike, tomorrow’s starting blindside flankers are in the twilights of their playing careers born seven months apart in 1989 yet still contributing massively to their respective causes. 

Lawes, 35, demonstrated that with an instrumental and inspirational performance in Saints’ pool victory at Thomond Park in January as the Premiership leaders, down to 14 men following the sending off of hooker Curtis Langdon, came from behind in the midst of a Limerick downpour to consign Munster to a rare home European defeat and with that an away draw for the Round of 16 that brings them to Franklin’s Gardens early tomorrow afternoon.

“They are two talismanic figures, both incredible players and that’s just one of the mouth-watering elements of the game this weekend, to see how that pans out,” Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson said this week of the match-up.

“You’ve also got two 10s (Fin Smith and Munster’s Jack Crowley) who play on the international stage, there’s caps throughout their group and a lot of lads who are pretty hungry for that opportunity in ours as well.

“So across the pitch there’s match-ups you like and that one is particularly juicy.” 

Dowson credits his former pack-mate with being Northampton’s emotional leader, maintaining the right levels from week to week to sustain a twin title bid this season.

“We’ve got a really good example of that in Courtney Lawes, whose emotional base level allows him to be really damn good every weekend,” the Saints boss said.

“He knows what he needs during the week, physically and emotionally, and he actually talks about having to be in the right space emotionally for games, which from a coaching point of view is absolute gold because one of the best players in the world is sat there ‘saying you’ve got to make sure you’re set for this game’.

“So I think we’ve got some people in that space who are very good at managing that.” 

While Lawes contemplates his Northampton swansong, set to leave his hometown club after 17 seasons this summer for a last hurrah in France with Brive, O’Mahony has yet to reveal his future plans beyond the current campaign with Munster defence coach Denis Leamy hoping the white smoke that is apparently close to appearing is positive for Munster.

“Well, we hope he will (sign for another season). I think he’s been an incredible player for Munster. He’s been an incredible player for Ireland. His longevity and his consistency within those years has been really strong and he’s won an awful lot of trophies, for Ireland especially but obviously last year with Munster as well. So he’s a decorated player, Lions captain, his record speaks for itself.

“He’s a great leader. He’s a really, really intelligent rugby man. He’s able to talk and condense a sentence that is so powerful in its meaning. He’s incredibly good at condensing something and packaging it. He’s got a great eye for the game and he says he won’t be a coach but he just gets the game incredibly well.

“When he speaks, everybody learns from him.”