Courtney Lawes: Players who racially abused Luther Burrell should be named and shamed

England captain Courtney Lawes has called for the players who racially abused former team-mate Luther Burrell to be named and shamed.

In an interview last weekend, Burrell, who played for Leeds, Sale, Northampton and Newcastle as well as Warrington in rugby league, claimed racism was “rife” within rugby and detailed the comments he received during his career about bananas, fried chicken and slavery. 

Lawes, England’s first black male captain since Jason Robinson in 2006, says that he was “shocked” by Burrell’s experience and has called for the perpetrators to be rooted out of the game. 

“I read the article and I was shocked about the stuff that’s been said to Luther because at most clubs – knowing the boys from different clubs who come into the England camp – it just wouldn’t be accepted, that kind of stuff,” Lawes said. “It’s not even a joke, that kind of stuff. It’s way beyond that.

“I’m feeling for him and I’m not sure what’s going on up there, but it’s absolutely not acceptable. I’m with (Ellis) Gengey – I think the person or people who are doing that need to be outed, because it’s just not acceptable in our game, at this point in time.”

Lawes played with Burrell for seven years at Northampton and is yet to contact him despite composing a message. In his own career, Lawes has only had a couple of fleeting experiences of racism and believes the issue of class is a potentially bigger problem within rugby. Yet the 33-year-old says it is up to the players themselves to stamp out any signs of racism. 

“Maybe I’m fortunate, I’ve only been at Saints and the only time I’ve ever experienced racism there was when I was 16 there, coming through the academy,” Lawes said. “Since then, honestly, it’s just not even thought about at