Steve Borthwick praises England rugby team’s adaptability after Ollie Lawrence injury

LONDON – England rugby coach Steve Borthwick said he was delighted with how his team showed adaptability and intelligence to overcome a serious-looking early injury to centre Ollie Lawrence in the 47-24 Six Nations victory over Italy on March 9.

Lawrence, one of England’s best performers through the championship, fell to the turf in distress after eight minutes with what Borthwick described as a “real tough-looking injury” that looks set to end his season and rule him out of contention for a British and Irish Lions squad place.

That meant that Elliot Daly’s run at fullback was short-lived as he moved into midfield that was already a new combination with a rare start for Fraser Dingwall, with Marcus Smith coming off the bench to slot in at No. 15.

“I was really pleased with the way they adapted to the early disruption with Ollie Lawrence’s injury against a really tricky opponent, who were very streetwise. Fingers crossed the injury’s not quite as severe as we fear it might be,” Borthwick said.

“The backline was good. They did a lot of good things and we are trying to build a squad. Today was the right time to make some changes. So, in that context, to do that and to get the result, to get the seven tries was a really great performance by the guys.”

Borthwick was delighted after the team was criticised for their lack of ambition in the stodgy win over Scotland two weeks ago.

“I’ve talked about the team playing fast and being aggressive with the ball and that’s the language I’ve used,” he said.

“Scotland played a very smart game, really tactically suitable, but today was a completely different challenge and I thought the guys dealt with this challenge really well.”

England had six different try scorers at Twickenham with Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme (two), Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl all crossing the line. Ange Capuozzo, Ross Vintcent and Tommaso Menoncello scored Italy’s tries.

The bonus-point victory means England remain in the hunt to win the title for the first time since 2020 but, to have any chance, they will almost certainly need to take another five points away to Wales on March 16 then hope France slip up against Scotland in Paris in the final match of the championship.

“Wales v England is a humongous fixture, but it’s a challenge we’re very much looking forward to,” said captain Maro Itoje.

Ireland’s hopes of an unprecedented third successive title realistically rest on them thrashing Italy, with Scotland beating France and Wales upsetting England.

England called up uncapped Bath centre Max Ojomoh to replace his injured clubmate but are not the only team missing a player for the final round of fixtures.

France captain Antoine Dupont said on March 9 that he would be out of action for “a few months” after tearing the cruciate ligaments in his right knee in the 42-27 victory over Ireland.

The scrum-half sustained the injury in the first half in Dublin on March 8, when he was caught in a ruck with Irish lock Tadhg Beirne appearing to land on him.

“Torn cruciate ligaments. It’s the start of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the pitch,” Dupont said on Instagram. REUTERS, AFP