England back rower Courtney Lawes produced one of the tackles of the year during Saturday’s Test match against Tonga at Twickenham.
The flanker chased down Tonga full back Telusa Veainu to make a try-saving tackle when it looked like a guaranteed try for the visitors, which had every fan inside the stadium on their feet in applause.
Lawes, who started the game at blindside flanker, is regarded as one of England’s hardest tacklers which is highlighted but his iconic brutal shot on French fly-half Joules Plisson during the 2015 Six Nations championship.
However this last ditch effort from the big man demonstrates his fitness, dynamism and determination to stop Veainu when it looked certain the speedster would score in the corner having already ran rings around England’s full back Freddie Steward.
Lawes’ effort contributed to England’s impressive defensive effort which saw Tonga fail to score a try during the 80 minutes in their Autumn Internationals opener.
The 32-year-old Northampton legend captained England for the first time in his career on Saturday and he now has 88 caps to his name since making his debut in 2009, while also representing the British & Irish Lions five times across two separate tours.
Meanwhile Veainu, 30, is best known for his explosive impact at Leicester Tigers where he made 79 games over a five-year period and became a crowd favourite for his fast footwork and electric pace.
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