Lawes ready for showdown with Saints team-mate North

North returns to the Wales team after being rested for last Sunday’s crushing 54-9 win against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium.

Lawes and Tom Wood will be in the England side and the lock is looking forward to locking horns with his club-mate.

And he knows exactly what Stuart Lancaster’s men must do to stifle the threat of 23-year-old wing North, who has scored 25 tries in just 54 Test matches for his country.

“I’ve played him a couple of times so it will be fun and it will be good to see him,” Lawes said. “At the end of the day, not one player ever wins a game, especially in international rugby, so we’ll keep our normal game, lots of linespeed and make sure our defence is in their face.

“If we can do that, it’s always going to make it hard for attacking, especially a winger like George if he’s got no time to work.”

England have already come up against one of the world’s best wingers, having taken on Nemani Nadolo in last Friday’s 35-11 win against Fiji.

Nadolo scored one try and kicked a penalty in the first half, but England were 
able to prevent him doing further damage after the break.

And Lawes said: “He’s a fantastic runner so we did well most of the time to stop him.”