Rugby: 'I'm not a thug' - England's Lawes responds to criticism

This tackle by England's Courtney Lawes on French first-five Jules Plisson caused a storm of controversy in France. Photo / Getty Images

England lock Courtney Lawes rejected accusations that he is a thug and promised not to change his hard-hitting style.

France fly-half Jules Plisson was on the receiving end of a bone-rattling tackle by Lawes in the last round of Six Nations Championship games.

Plisson had released the ball a fraction before Lawes made contact, which Nigel Owens, the referee, ruled legal, but caused uproar in France and led an English tabloid columnist to opine rather incongruously that he would have been arrested for committing such an act on the street.

Lawes shrugged off those brickbats and insisted that his disciplinary record demonstrated that he was not a dirty player.

"I'm not the sort of person who is fussed about what people think of me," he said. "I'm only bothered about what I can do for my team and for myself as a player.

"The fact is that my record is very clean. I've only been cited once. I've had a two-week ban and I've never been red-carded.

"I don't think I've had many yellows, if any, this year. I know I'm not a thug, I don't go around punching or fighting; any of that rubbish. I just get on with the game. I don't even allow people or things to get me too aggro, I just get on with my own thing.

"I'm comfortable being who I am. If people want to say I'm something else, that's fair enough.

"I've never done anything to get myself sent off in terms of my tackle timing or whatever, so why would I stop if it is legal? There's no reason I should."

Part of the reason that Lawes's poor reputation precedes him is that many of his biggest hits have been on half-backs much smaller than him. The 6ft 7in second row has a particular penchant for targeting Frenchmen with Julien Thomas and Morgan Parra among his previous victims.

However, Lawes denies that his tackling technique is illegal and says that his habit of hunting half-backs is born of tactical rather than vicious reasons.

"To be honest, as long as it is legal and I'm not putting my team in any jeopardy doing it, in terms of me getting booked or sent off or anything like that, I'm going to do anything I can to help the team," Lawes said.

"If you can put pressure on the 10, then you go out and put pressure on the 10, and if you can do it legally, then why can't you do it? That's the way I see it.

"I've got that kind of timing around the ruck and I've got the speed to get to the 10. My size is the reason that the impact is so big, but I don't go looking for it. If I can feel the timing off the nine, get around and put pressure on the 10, then that's what I have to do as a forward, as a player.

"It makes a big difference to the game if you can stop the 10 from passing or stop that particular play. It doesn't even have to be a big hit, it just makes a difference if that 10 knows that he has pressure on him."