The England captain Courtney Lawes believes “unacceptable” racist behaviour must be stamped out of rugby and those responsible named and shamed following last week’s shocking revelations by his former teammate Luther Burrell.
Lawes, who is only the second black player to captain the England men’s side, admitted he was shocked to read Burrell’s alarming testimony in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, in which he said racism was rife within the sport. Burrell said that he had been subjected to “racial banter” by teammates including comments about slavery, bananas and fried chicken and being called the N-word when greeted.
