12 February 2023 , 14:22
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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.
“I see a quiet, humble young man who has been through a really challenging time at a club which no longer exists,” England’s head coach said of the former Worcester Warriors star.
“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.”
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So impressed has Borthwick been with what he saw that on Thursday he dropped Marcus Smith and moved Owen Farrell to fly-half to make room for Lawrence at inside-centre.
Lawrence is the 11th different centre Henry Slade (above) has played alongside (Getty Images)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 the tackle-busting power the 21-year old brought to the position.
He dropped him from quite a height the following year, less than happy with others likening the two - saying it was akin to comparing the batting averages of Sir Donald Bradman and Jimmy Anderson.
England head coach Steve Borthwick (David Rogers/Getty Images)Lawrence took that on the chin then lived through the demise of Worcester, with all the stress and uncertainty that brought, before taking himself off to Bath and making an immediate impression.
Jones gave him no credit, publicly at least, when asked in the autumn whether his form warranted a recall.
“It’s like you want to play Test match cricket,” he said. “You get 30 in a 20-20 game then 40 the next week.
Owen Farrell takes the No10 shirt ahead of Marcus Smith (David Rogers/Getty Images)“He’s got to get a lot of runs and then we’ll have a look at him. Good young player. But let’s see more of it.”
England gathered to prepare for their November campaign and, back at Bath, their new centre got his head down.
The plaudits started to pour in. Shortlisted for Premiership player of the month in October, Lawrence won the award in November.
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“To begin with I was watching him as a head coach of a different team and I saw how well he played,” added Borthwick, who remained Leicester team boss until December.
“I’ve seen how well he has played for Bath since he embraced jumping into a new environment to give everything he has.
“He is a really talented player who can defend very well, pass and distribute. He is quick and powerful and he wants to get better. I have been really impressed by his work ethic.”
With Jack Willis also back in the starting line-up, having overcome a year-long injury and redundancy when his club Wasps went broke, Borthwick believes he has sufficient character in his team to get the job done.
The Italian Job, that is.
HENRY SLADE'S 11 ENGLAND CENTRE PARTNERS
(from 2015-23)
Sam Burgess
Piers Francis
Alex Lozowsky
Ben Te'o
Jonathan Joseph
Dan Kelly
Owen Farrell
Manu Tuilagi
Elliot Daly
Joe Marchant
Ollie Lawrence