Courtney Lawes has been backed to make a sensational return to the England set-up for the 2027 Rugby World Cup by his new Sale boss Alex Sanderson.
Lawes, 37, last played for England in the 2023 tournament and is currently plying his trade in the French second tier with Brive, but has come out of international retirement after agreeing a deal to play for Sale next season.
Featuring at Australia 2027 would represent a fifth Rugby World Cup for Lawes, who has also captained his country, won 105 England caps and toured with the British and Irish Lions on two occasions.
“We can get him to a World Cup in great form, in good shape,” said Sanderson.
“We can give him a platform, with the pack that we’ve got and the players we’ve recruited, to put the best of himself back into the Prem.
“I know there’s been talk about his age and stuff, but if you’ve looked at how many games he’s played, he’s clearly extremely robust, he’s playing some of his best rugby, so there’s no reason why, given his ambition, given physically how he is matching up, that he can’t get to a World Cup in great shape.”
Lawes is part of a summer infusion of experience into the Sharks squad with fellow former England internationals Joe Marchant and Alex Lozowski as well as Wales props Nicky Smith and Tomas Francis also en route.
With Sale’s Champions Cup campaign having come to an end with quarter-final defeat to Leinster last weekend and his team well adrift of the Prem play-off spots, Sanderson is looking for more personal motivations to fuel his side through their final six matches of the current campaign.
They take on Saracens, where Sanderson spent 17 years as a player and a coach, at home on Sunday.
Sale suffered a 65-14 defeat in the reverse fixture in October, a result that the Londoners celebrated with a social-media victory video showing a fish being dipped into a deep-fat fryer., external
“I manage to find beef with everyone,” said Sanderson.
“I’m still hurting from the result down there.
“We got stuffed and then got our faces rubbed did it from their side, so that still stings for me.
“So there’s a little bit of dented pride to sort out and, always for them, social media bragging rights. That’s important for them.
“I think the end of this campaign is important. It tests the mettle of your more deep-seated motivators – how much the lads mean to each other.
“We want to see out some of the lads out who are leaving in the right style. I want to make that feel special because the lads that are leaving do matter to me.”