Relaxing at home last Sunday evening, watching the Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix, there was finally a chance for Ollie Lawrence to reflect. By any standards his own rollercoaster ride from unemployment to World Cup selection inside a year has been a stirring story, even without the untimely knee injury which has latterly sidelined him for eight weeks.
On Saturday he returns to a competitive rugby field, having now cemented his place in England’s 33-man squad for France. His partner and his family were particularly emotional when he delivered the good news; they have been there through all his ups and downs. “My missus just said: ‘I don’t think anyone could have imagined these last 12 months and I don’t think it will ever happen again,’” Lawrence says. “It was just nice to have that conversation. It was one of those moments where you really take it all in.”
When he phoned his parents they also spoke about the sizeable hurdles he has been required to overcome since Worcester, his local club, went into administration and were suspended from the Premiership last September. “We talked about how everyone would not have thought we would have been here a year ago. So that was pretty special.”
Yet here he is now, back in England’s starting midfield against Wales at Twickenham. If ever there was a prime example of character in the face of adversity, Lawrence’s fightback has been it. It is only a couple of years, too, since he was chosen to play against Scotland in the Six Nations amid much fanfare, only to receive just one pass in the entire game. Rather than sticking with his 21-year-old rookie, Eddie Jones summarily dropped him for the next fixture against Italy. The head coach later wrote that the centre was not “hungry or disciplined enough”.
Anyone who has ever had to endure the sting of public rejection will appreciate how deep Lawrence has subsequently had to dig. He is still only 23 but he will never experience a more challenging scenario in his career than the aftershock of Worcester’s sad demise. While he counts himself lucky to have been granted another chance with Bath, he has also had to show serious resilience. “As you grow up you go through experiences in life. You can either keep your head down and ignore them or you face them. That’s the way I looked at it. Otherwise people will just keep overtaking me and I’ll end up being left in the dust. It’s not been ideal but I guess I’m probably better off for it in the long run.”
The next target, having fully recovered from the knee injury he sustained in a training camp in June, is to underline why he was named the Premiership’s player of the year in May. While it is too simplistic to cast Lawrence as Manu Tuilagi’s like-for-like replacement, the latter’s absence this weekend gives the younger man a chance to stake a claim for a start in one of England’s early pool games. Steve Borthwick has already indicated he might consider playing Lawrence and Tuilagi in tandem and the relatively untried combination of Lawrence and Joe Marchant could also pose some interesting questions at Twickenham.
The strong-running Lawrence is much more than just a bosh merchant and, having had football trials with Birmingham and Aston Villa and played Warwickshire age-group cricket, has long been earmarked as someone with a promising international future. His father, Michael, played on the wing for Moseley but his son is best known for running hard lines down the middle of the pitch. “I would be lying if I said I’m not a person who is looking to carry in the midfield. I love that role. The players around me know what my strengths are.”
That said, he is slightly tired of being pigeon-holed as “just” a basher or a Manu mini-me. “People will always compare us because we’re both big ball-carrying centres. That’s only natural. Everyone’s going to do it, whether it’s fans, journalists or coaches, but we both have different strengths. It is frustrating sometimes when people think you are this one‑dimensional player because there’s so much more to every individual within the squad.”
This would be the perfect moment to demonstrate it, always assuming he receives more than one pass this time. “I still think I’ve got a lot more to show in an England jersey. I don’t think I’ve shown anywhere near the capabilities I have.” Something similar could be said about the team in general, with big things also expected of the 20-year-old Henry Arundell in the back three. “He’s crazy quick,” says Lawrence. “Every time you see him with the ball in the back field, I’m literally: ‘Go score a try.’
It is another reason why Lawrence believes that, collectively, everything will click at some stage. “We are going to the World Cup to put our best foot forward and try to win the thing. We want to progressively get better and we have a plan within our team of how we are going to do that. Whether that excites fans or not, I can’t dictate that. But we are pushing towards being a team, when we are attacking, that people will watch and think: ‘Wow, this is an incredible team.’ That’s what we’re working on … the ability to play within a structure but when we get the opportunity to light it up, it can just click like that.”
If England play as surely as Lawrence speaks, they will be fine. Either way he will go to the World Cup for ever grateful to the medical staff – “When I first did the injury I didn’t know how long I’d be out for” – and murmuring a quiet prayer to all affected by Worcester’s demise. The players’ old WhatsApp group is still pinging and a strong sense of kinship endures.
“A part of me going into this World Cup wants to represent them as well as Bath and also my country. It was similar to when I went to Bath. I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward so I could make the boys proud. I will always be a proud Worcester Warrior.” If anyone deserves an upbeat few months, it is surely him.
