GO BORTH & on centre stage
2023 SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
OLLIE LAWRENCE lines up against Italy today, having seen his club go bust and his England career go pop once before.
The Bath centre becomes the latest in a long line of midfield partners for Henry Slade after scaling a mountain of adversity and convincing Steve Borthwick he is not scarred by the experience.
England’s head coach said of former Worcester Warriors star Lawrence: “I see a quiet, humble young man, who has been through a really challenging time at a club which no longer exists.
“He’s had to move and go into a new environment and new team.watching all that, you learn about someone. I see somebody with a high degree of humility, who is trying to grab this opportunity with both hands, who is determined to be the best he can be.”
So impressed is Borthwick (right) that he has dropped Marcus Smith and moved Owen Farrell to fly-half to make room for Lawrence at inside-centre.
The view of Borthwick’s predecessor Eddie Jones was somewhat different.the Australian gave the young Brummie his debut back in 2020, seeing shades of Manu Tuilagi in Lawrence’s tacklebusting power at the age of 21.
He dropped Lawrence from quite a height the following year, less than happy with others making the Tuilagi comparison – Jones said it was akin to comparing the batting averages of Sir Donald Bradman and Jimmy Anderson.
Lawrence took that on the chin and then lived through the demise of Worcester, with all the stress and uncertainty that brought, before moving to Bath and making an immediate impression.
Jones gave him no credit, publicly at least, when