LONG READ How England can get the best out of Ollie Lawrence

Of the many questions Steve Borthwick will have been pondering in the lead-up to the Six Nations, how to bring the best out in Ollie Lawrence must be right up there near the top.

Thirty-one caps into his England career, Lawrence is no longer a fresh-faced new boy. He should know the ropes when it comes to Test rugby now.

While there have been intermittent flashes of the talent everyone who watches Bath knows that he has in abundance, he has not yet delivered internationally on a regular basis.

If there is an optimum time to do so then a Lions season is as good as any.

Lawrence is, as things stand, probably on Andy Farrell’s ‘maybe’ list for Australia. He has five games to change that to ‘definite’.

Number one, in Dublin, against an Ireland midfield which should by rights already have their passports at the ready, is a great opportunity to start to turn the tide his way.

Lawrence has the capability to do it. After all he possesses an X-factor every side craves.

“When you talk to the S&C people they all talk about the natural power he has and how ridiculously powerful he is in the gym,” said Bath attack coach Lee Blackett.

“That is his biggest attribute. He is so explosive. He creates things out of nothing because of that.

“When you have someone with that sort of power it is a case of how many opportunities you can give him on the ball and in terms of sheer numbers he is a lot more involved this season.

“We have created more plays around him to get him more involved but also he is understanding exactly where he needs to be within the system to get his hands on the ball.

Lawrence’s bang capacity has proved too much of a temptation for England. Priming him to dynamite rock walls as a No 12 crash-it-up merchant sells the 25-year-old short as a footballer.

“He has definitely improved on his link play this year.

“He has been outstanding for Bath especially at the start of the season but I thought in the Leinster game, basically playing against the equivalent of Ireland, he was outstanding as well.”

Leinster won that Champions Cup game at the Aviva Stadium a fortnight ago comfortably enough in the end after Beno Obano’s sending off but the first half try Lawrence crafted for Tom de Glanville to give Bath a half time lead was a thing of beauty. He drifted off Finn Russell’s pass to create the space for himself and then tore into it before pushing a lovely one-handed back-of-the-hand offload to de Glanville.

Note to Borthwick – not a jot of contact in sight.

Lawrence’s bang capacity has proved too much of a temptation for England. Priming him to dynamite rock walls as a No 12 crash-it-up merchant sells the 25-year-old short as a footballer and misreads where he is at his most effective. There is a reason he prefers No 13.

“Occasionally we will use him up the middle off a lineout play,” said Blackett. “But we often like to use him that bit wider because it just gives him that little bit more space. If you can isolate a defender and give Ollie a one on one he will reward you because of the power he has. If you give Ollie a one on one there is a good chance he will break that. It’s a lot harder for him to break a two on one.”

The message has got through with England at least in terms of the number on his back. He now has the No 13 shirt and Henry Slade the No 12. But the proof is in the pudding. How will England use them in this championship?

At 15st 8lb Lawrence can make a dent – he made it over the gainline on 64 per cent of his carries in last season’s Six Nations – but just don’t pigeonhole him as that guy. If England do so, they are limiting one of their best attacking weapons.

The partnership [Slade and Lawrence] will be deployed for the 11th successive Test by England this weekend – only Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott have enjoyed a longer run together for England – yet it has never quite looked entirely convincing.

Of course if England had a specialist hole-punch No 12 they would not be tempted. They don’t though. Slade – who has been playing at No 10 for Exeter this season – is a ball player with a left foot that upgrades their kicking options.

“Slade has proved himself internationally. He’s had a lot of longevity and he’s a quality operator,” acknowledged Blackett.

No one would argue with that. It is just a question of the blend. The partnership will be deployed for the 11th successive Test by England this weekend – only Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott have enjoyed a longer run together for England – yet it has never quite looked entirely convincing.

The pass from Ollie Lawrence 😮‍💨#GallagherPrem | #BATvSAR pic.twitter.com/yuy2uENefd

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) December 28, 2024

The combination was probably at its most fluid in the final game of last season’s Six Nations in England’s narrow defeat in France when Lawrence scored twice but it hasn’t really kicked on from there.

“I can see how the partnership with Slade could work,” said Blackett.

“It is similar to a Cam Redpath/Ollie Lawrence-type centre partnership that we might use at Bath where Cam is more of a second receiver/communicator 12.

“When England want someone to run a hard line they might use Ollie as a 12 and Henry at 13; when they need Ollie that little bit wider and that ball player at 12 they might do it the other way around.

“I wouldn’t imagine we will just see Henry at 12 and Ollie at 13. They will try to use their best attributes by moving them around.

Borthwick will be crossing his fingers his persistence pays off and that combined class will tell in the end – Lawrence and Slade are the Premiership’s last two players of the season.

“Off set-piece that is easy enough because they will know exactly where they should be. In terms of phase there is a bit of a difference between 12 and 13 and they will each have to do each other’s role at times.

“The biggest difference in the centres with the ball is on kick return. You’ll often see 13 is a lot further towards the edge and 12 in the middle. It’s those things you need to get right.”

Borthwick will be crossing his fingers his persistence pays off and that combined class will tell in the end – Lawrence and Slade are the Premiership’s last two players of the season.

If they can spark then England will be on the move as a Six Nations force again and we will finally see the best of Lawrence at Test level.

The personal spin-off will be that he will put himself on the plane to Australia in the summer.

“It’s a big year and you’d like to think Ollie will be in contention for the red jersey at the end of it. He is good enough,” said Blackett.

“I really hope he has a brilliant Six Nations to put himself in a great position to try to grab it.”