England rugby captain Courtney Lawes said the high injury toll in the Test series against the Wallabies was unfortunate, but the sidelining of concussed players proves the game has progressed.
England and Australia both suffered multiple injuries in their first two Tests, with a number of players receiving blows to the head.
Asked if he was alarmed by the high number of injuries, Lawes said: “Many of them were caused by blows to the head.
Sam Cane speaks to the media ahead of the third Test against Ireland in Wellington | All Blacks press conference
“It shows the progression of the game, where if you got hit in the head around this time last year, you would be absolutely ready to play for this next test.
“I think prevention is better than cure and if you get hit in the head in a game you should have the time you need to recover from it, so I see that as a good thing.
“There have been a lot of other quite serious injuries, especially on their side, which is hard and very unfortunate to see to be honest.
“But that’s the nature of the game at this stage because there are so many good athletes, there are so many big collisions and it’s a tough sport.
“I don’t think you can care too much about it.
“We are playing a tough physical game and we all know what we signed up for, and a lot of that is down to luck.
“People catch a ball and awkwardly go down, get landed and stuff like that, it’s bad luck and unfortunately it happens.”
Lawes, who played on the blind flank for the first two Tests, said coach Eddie Jones did not suggest a move to the second line for Saturday’s SCG decider, after lock Maro Itoje was ruled out for concussion.
A knee injury to Cadeyrn Neville and the suspension of Darcy Swain have depleted Australia’s lock stocks, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto called up to the squad.
Salakaia-Loto and Lawes will soon be teammates in England when the 30-capped Wallabies striker joins English skippers club Northampton Saints.
Lawes and the other Saints members of the touring group had coffee with Salakaia-Loto last week before he was drafted into the Wallabies squad.
“All I know is he’s massive, so I’ll try to avoid hitting him directly,” Lawes said.
Both men played in the 2019 World Cup quarter-final won by England, although starter Lawes was substituted five minutes before Salakaia-Loto came off the bench.
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