England vs Japan: Alex Lozowski ready to make up for lost time after disciplinary confusion left him banned

Alex Lozowski is looking to make up for lost time this Saturday after being forced to miss out on England’s first two outings in the autumn internationals, having endured one of the more bizarre disciplinary hearings.

Whether Lozowski would have featured against the Springboks or All Blacks remains a mystery that only Eddie Jones will know the answer to, but the decision was taken out of his hands by the four-week ban given to the Saracens centre for a high tackle on Glasgow Warriors full-back Ruaridh Jackson.

Initially, Lozowski was cited for dangerously entering a ruck and the high tackle, only for the latter to be cleared, with the former resulting in a three-week ban. Lozowski appealed, as did European Professional Club Rugby for the dismissed charge, and with both winning he suddenly faced a third hearing for the dangerous tackle that resulted in a back-dated four-week ban.

Given that it coincided with the start of England’s plans this autumn, the 25-year-old had to endure a disruptive training camp in Portugal as he made repeated journeys between London and the Algarve, but finally he is free to play once again and will make only his third start in an England shirt after being named at inside centre to face Japan.

“I did a few back-and-forths to camp in Portugal which wasn’t ideal for my training and preparation for the team,” Lozowski said. “Now I am just happy that all that’s behind me and I can leave that now. I am happy to be free to play now and delighted to play.

“No one really knew when the hearings were going to be so I was just in training waiting to hear when I had to go back. Then when I got the call to go back, then when it was over I came back over for training.

“I can’t really remember at what point I was banned, at what point I was free. I remember there being a day, two weeks after the game, when I was back to where I was having just been cited. It wasn’t ideal preparation.”

Lozowski had enjoyed a strong start to the season with Saracens after emerging as a key part of their centre pairing with Brad Barritt, helping them to remain unbeaten so far this season. But the ban stopped him in his tracks as he was forced to sit on the sidelines, yet he does not believe that it has left him off the pace ahead of this weekend’s visit of Japan

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“I try not to look at it in that way, I just focussed on what I could do in training,” Lozowski added. “I knew I was banned for that first game, put my best foot forward in training and just do my best and try and get the team ready to play against the Springboks. Hopefully the coaches saw that.

“Having missed the first two games it is a huge chance now to go out and play. We have taken a lot of confidence from what has happened in the last two weeks and we are really looking forward to getting stuck in. We know it is going to be a tough game. Everyone is super excited to go out and play and I am no different. I can’t wait.”

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It would be understandable, though, if Lozowski felt that the disciplinary process carried out by EPCR felt like a bit of a farce, but he is the first to hold his hands up and admit he got it wrong when attempting to tackle Jackson during the European Champions Cup clash last month.

“I think everyone is pretty clear in terms of the rules – I was banned for a high tackle and contact with the head,” he explained. “Everyone knows you can’t do that. That’s been completely taken out of the game now, there is no confusion on my part or anyone else’s in that sense. In terms of the rules, there is no confusion from the player’s point of view in terms of what is allowed and what isn’t.”