- The latest RFU Podcast is now ready to download
- Former Northampton Old Scouts Lawes and Thompson prepare to take on Australia
Courtney Lawes and Steve Thompson will be on parade at Twickenham on Saturday as a testament to Northampton Old Scouts.
Lawes follows Thompson and Ben Cohen as the latest to come out of the Scouts club founded in 1926 around a camp fire at Castle Ashby.
Thompson said: "A couple of the guys down at Old Scouts have said congratulations and 'look after him'. With someone like Courtney it's so exciting – he is so athletic and he's only 20 – so I'm really looking forward to it."
Lawes, a 6ft 7ins, 17st 4lbs former basketball player who only took up rugby in his mid-teens, said: "I spoke to my old coach Chris Parr and he is really excited and very proud. There's bound to be a few nerves but luckily I'm not a massively nervous person so hopefully I can take it all in and keep focused on the game."
As for Thompson himself, the white shirt was always a target when he returned to playing with CA Brive after a neck injury which he thought had ended his career.
"There was no way I was going to come back and think I wasn't going to play for England. You either come back and try and be better than you were before – otherwise there is no point in doing it," said the 31-year-old.
To hear the interviews in full right click on the link and select 'save as' to download the November 5 2009 podcast or subscribe via iTunes by pasting the following url into the subscribe page http://www.rfu.com/podcast/subscribe/podcast.xml.
Also on this week's podcast:
- Jonny's back – the 2009 version
- Matt Giteau and Robbie Deans on Wilkinson
- Martin Johnson on the new-look Australia
