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'His skin folds have come down 15 per cent': How Ollie Lawrence responded to the England axe
There was much hue and cry in recent times about the cold-hearted way in which Ollie Lawrence, an England starter in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations versus Scotland, was tossed aside by Eddie Jones for the subsequent matches against Italy and Wales.
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Having been chosen at inside centre for just his fourth Test cap, the 21-year-old was starved of the ball and it wasn’t until around the hour mark that he finally had some possession that he was able to carry.
Rather than some of Jones’ under-performing stars paying the ultimate selection price after the loss to the Scots, the only England backline alteration was the omission of Lawrence from the matchday 23 to take on the Italians, a gambit that saw skipper Owen Farrell shift out to centre from out-half to accommodate the inclusion of George Ford.
It was a difficult demotion for the youngster who is still learning the ropes at Test level, given that he only first hooked up for England training last October, but he has now returned to the international reckoning, making the bench for this Saturday’s round four clash with France at Twickenham.
It’s a development that has pleased Jones, the coach who had no qualms excluding the rookie Test centre just four weeks ago amid the fall-out from the defeat to Scotland. Asked about his pep talks with Lawrence, the England boss said: “I can’t really share the private conversations I have had with Ollie, as you’d appreciate.
"His diligence to go away and work on that will be the test of his resilience"#SixNations #ENGvITA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 12, 2021
“But what I can tell you is that I have been really impressed by his desire to improve. I’ll just give you one area: he has gone from 96kgs in bodyweight to 99kgs, his skin folds have come down 15 per cent, so he has got himself in much better physical condition – and there have been other parts of his game where he has worked really hard on to improve. I couldn’t be more pleased with his progress.”
That change in Lawrence’s body shape has apparently been a work in progress dating back to his inclusion for Autumn Nations Cup duty and is evidence that Jones does believe the midfielder has the tools to become a long-term option for England. Speaking after he had dropped Lawrence post-Scotland, Jones had declared: “There are areas of his development we want him to go work on because we want him to go be a 50-cap player and that is what we are trying to develop with him.”
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Finn Russell joins RugbyPass Offload EP 20 🚨
We're joined by Scottish royalty this week!
Finn previews Scotland vs Ireland and gives us an insight into the Scotland camp 🤝
He also talks him & Gregor, the Lions Tour and his thoughts on England 👀
🎙️ – https://t.co/42nsDi8N6A pic.twitter.com/LCpcEzL81S
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 10, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
South Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to comments