Courtney Lawes Spent 10 Days in Hospital With Staph Infection

England lock Courtney Lawes has revealed that he spent 10 days in hospital with a staph infection. The 37-year-old told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby Xtra podcast that doctors found his infection markers were "through the roof". Those markers are blood test readings that climb when the body is fighting an infection.

Lawes has not played since Sale Sharks lost their Champions Cup match to Glasgow Warriors on 17 October. He said a staph infection was the reason he has been away from the game. Staph is a common type of bacteria that can cause serious illness when it gets into the body.

He believes the infection entered through a foot injury he picked up in a match. The wound did not heal well. At first, Lawes thought he had flu. He had severe muscle pains and lost the use of his right arm.

He sought advice from Sale's medical staff, who planned to have a doctor assess him the following day. His wife, Jessica, urged him to go to an accident and emergency department instead. Blood tests there showed dangerously high infection levels, and he was admitted to hospital.

Four days into his stay, doctors diagnosed a staph infection. He was first given penicillin, an antibiotic delivered through an IV drip, which is a thin tube that feeds medicine straight into a vein. His temperature and infection markers kept rising. Only when doctors prescribed the correct antibiotics did he start to improve.

Lawes said he is now feeling better, but he is still recovering day by day. He is an England international who has won more than 100 caps, meaning he has played more than 100 official matches for his country.

For anyone who has followed the sport, the story is a sharp reminder of how a small-looking injury can turn serious. A foot knock that seems minor in the middle of a season can, in rare cases, let bacteria into the body. Lawes's account also shows how an illness can be mistaken for something more ordinary, such as flu, before the true cause is found.