Ollie Lawrence interview: England centre aiming to repay Steve Borthwick faith after overcoming hurdles

Powerful midfielder aiming to shine in World Cup campaign after Bath reset and moving on from Worcester’s sad demise
Nick Purewal5 September 2023

His jigsaw-piece tattoo reminds England centre Ollie Lawrence that refusing to fit in can be a virtue. Flexing a muscular forearm, Lawrence explains the idea behind the ink.

"I had a realisation that it's okay not to fit into every single picture, it's okay to be different," he tells Standard Sport. "That's an important thing that I will always talk about — being different can be such a quality."

How Lawrence would love to be the missing piece of England's Rugby World Cup puzzle. Worcester was all the 23-year-old had known, graduating from the Warriors' academy to make a huge impression on the Gallagher Premiership.

Born in Birmingham and schooled at rugby nurseries Old Swinford Hospital, then Bromsgrove, Lawrence starred for Worcester but could only get himself onto the fringe of Eddie Jones's England team.

Worcester's administration and demise last October forced him to find a new niche. The powerful midfielder was snapped up by Bath, uprooted his whole life — and promptly delivered a barnstorming season in the West Country.

Lawrence was omitted from Steve Borthwick's first England squad, for the Six Nations, but forced his way back in after Elliot Daly's Achilles injury. The hard-hitting centre has not taken a backward look — or step — since. He won the Gallagher Premiership Player of the Year award in May, after just seven months at Bath.

Now he has pitched up in France with England for the World Cup, determined to set England back on course after a turbulent month of warm-up matches. Lawrence's parents met while working in sales for the Yellow Pages. Forget letting your fingers do the walking — this line-breaking sensation has made his performances do the talking.

Maximising his strengths: Ollie Lawrence wants to repay Steve Borthwick’s faith in France
Getty Images

"I had to grow up a lot over everything that has happened, the challenges and hurdles that have come my way over the last couple of years," said Lawrence.

"Everyone in life goes through these things, of course, but hopefully they should bring you out on the other side a better person, a more well-rounded person. At first, it was so difficult, because I was so attached to Worcester. A lot of my mates still live in Worcester and there was still uncertainty about the club.

"But the more I played for Bath, and then eventually moved down there, I knew I had to leave Worcester behind, in that regard. Just holding onto that burden of everything that happened at Worcester wouldn't have allowed me to be the best version of myself.

"I had a great time from the age of 14 to 23 at Worcester and I'll always have so much love for the club. I'd like to think now I'm a bit more rounded than I was a couple of years ago. I've still got so much more learning to do, but I'm getting there.

"Step by step. It's something I have been conscious of and something I have wanted to develop. I've been trying to figure things out a bit more.

I had to grow up a lot over everything that has happened, the challenges and hurdles that have come my way over the last couple of years

"I probably did get to a point where I figured it out a bit more in the season just gone. On and off the field I was definitely happier within myself and I think that's definitely what brought the best out in my rugby."

England need to find their happy place, and fast, after three defeats in their four warm-up matches culminated in a first-ever loss to Fiji. Saturday's Pool D opener against Argentina in Marseille has loomed larger and larger across England's dismal August.

Lawrence had to hit the reset button when Worcester folded, so can perhaps inspire a similar fresh start now for England.

"I'd lost a bit of love for the game when I was injured the previous season, then I came back buzzing at the start of the year — and then the club went bust," said Lawrence.

"I bundled everything up in all those feelings and took them to Bath. I just saw it as an opportunity for me to press the reset button, go back to what I was good at and be the best version of that.

"I probably got that wrong the first time I came into an England squad. You've got to maximise your strengths. Steve's been great with me on that and I want to repay him, because he has backed me."

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