"Tommy, he is class" – Fin Smith: England fly half backs Saints teammate Freeman to replace Ollie Lawrence at centre
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England head coach Steve Borthwick has to make a change to his playbook, with powerhouse centre Ollie Lawrence ruled out for the rest of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. Lawrence sustained an unfortunate Achilles injury just eight minutes into Sunday’s match against Italy, and the Bath man will play no part in the final round battle against Wales.
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England fly half Fin Smith has a long and storied history with Ollie Lawrence, dating back to their shared days at Worcester Warriors. Smith expressed how he was ‘devastated’ to see his back-line brother hit with the brutal injury, that could well write Lawrence out of the upcoming British & Irish Lions tour of Australia. Smith said how the loss ‘broke his heart’, as he wished his teammate a swift recovery.
“It is difficult. Obviously you play in a game and you want to win and all this stuff, but I think there's a sort of deeper level to it and when you see one of your best mates potentially losing the chance to go on a Lions tour and what was bound to be a massive year for him, it breaks your heart. I think I was probably a bit too gutted on the pitch seeing that happen and it maybe rattled me for a few minutes. I probably made a few mistakes off the back of it.
“We're all absolutely devastated for him. I've got everything crossed that the scans say it's not too bad but it is not looking brilliant. He is absolutely devastated. He has been a massive part of Bath and pushing them forward and a massive part of this England team. I don't think he has played below a 7-8 of 10 ever really for either his club or his country. I am devastated for him and I know he's devastated as well. We have just got to get around him. I think as teammates, we've got to be good friends to him now and look out for him because it is going to be a tough time for him.”
Borthwick will now have to find Lawrence’s replacement, with the options dwindling within England’s midfield ranks. Last week, Exeter Chiefs man Henry Slade was released back to his Devonshire club, with question marks around his match fitness first raised during the fallow week training in York. Slade played no part in the win over Italy, and the latest England squad update confirmed that Slade would not be going back to the Bagshot training base.
Max Ojomoh was called up into the training squad, as preparations for the Wales Test have commenced today at England’s Surrey headquarters. Ojomoh plays his club rugby alongside Lawrence at Bath, with Borthwick eyeing up the possibility of a blue, black and white representative in his midfield despite Lawrence’s unfortunate absence. Additional options to fill the outside centre void are Elliot Daly and Tommy Freeman, with Daly moving across to the midfield in the win over the Azzurri.
Fin Smith backed his Northampton teammate Freeman for a run-out in the England midfield, with the regular wing previously trailed at centre for his green, black and gold club.
“I'm not the coach but Tommy is Tommy, he's class. He plays well on the wing, well at 13. He's one of those players you just want to get the ball in his hands and however we can do that. But we'll see what Steve (Borthwick) comes up with, I just try and give him the ball whoever it is.”
Whilst the door to the Lions tour may be closing on Lawrence, Fin Smith could well be set to fly the Worcester flag ‘down under’ this Summer. Smith has been in stellar form since Borthwick first pulled the trigger and hand the 22-year-old the reins to the back-line, with three Test wins from three under the Northampton man’s belt since his debut. Despite the hope that Smith makes the grade for Andy Farrell’s touring side, the halfback is not getting too ahead of himself just yet.
“I haven't really thought about it to be honest, mate. I just want to chuck the ball around, have fun, try and win games for England and do my mates and my family proud. If you're telling me I'm in the conversation I'll take it, but it's not something I've thought too much about. If it happens it happens but I'm not expecting too much.”
Smith has one final Test match to impress upon, before he returns to Northampton for the remainder of the 2024/25 season. The fly half is set for a reunion with his former Worcester Warriors coach Matt Sherratt, when England head to Wales for the Super Saturday showdown. Sherratt was named as Warren Gatland’s replacement in February, as the Kiwi was removed from his post as Wales head coach.
Sherratt stepped up to take the interim head coach mantle, with Saturday’s match against England being his last at the helm of Wales for the foreseeable future. Smith has an abundance of respect for Sherratt, as the halfback recalled some early advice he received back from their time together at Sixways Stadium.
“He was my first coach at Worcester. I've got a lot to thank him for and it was no surprise to me whatsoever that he's turned things around so quickly. He's an unbelievable people person and those boys are playing with a lot more confidence and I think that's something that he has brought to them. He's got an unbelievable attacking brain as well, you can see by the way they're moving the ball and some of their strike plays, he's stamped his name all over that stuff.”
“He actually sat me down for a really honest conversation that I won't forget when I was mid-way through my first year as an 18-year-old. He was saying Jonny (Wilkinson), Faz (Owen Farrell), Fordy (George Ford) were all playing week in, week out. If you want to get to that level, which he said at the time that he thought I could, then I really need to push, and wait to follow the same trajectory that the boys in the academy, who were the same age as me were on.
“He really looked out for me and gave me a shot in my first year. As a coach it's probably not the easiest thing to do but I'm really grateful to him and I've been speaking to him for a while since he's left Worcester. He's a good guy.”
Smith has certainly been impressed by how Sherratt has turned the struggling Welsh side around. Even without getting a win under Welsh belts, the regular Cardiff head coach has certain captured the hopes of a nation throughout his short run in charge of the side.
“He's got them (Wales) all on the same page which is the main thing.” Smith added. “It looks like they know exactly what they're doing, whether that's in phase shape or off line-outs and things like that, he's got them to fight for each other again.
“That's the sign of a happy camp, boys running around for each other, scrambling, defending their goal-line, going to 80 even if the scoreline is against them. He's clearly put some pride back into the shirt so credit to him but it's going to make our job going down there all the more difficult.”
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QUIZ: Can You Name the England XV that Won the 2020 Six Nations?
England last won the Six Nations in 2020, in what was a crowning achievement during the Eddie Jones era. Coming off the back of the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final heartbreak, England bounced back to win their seventh Six Nations title since the competition’s Italian expansion in 2000.
England secured the trophy with a win in Rome, as they handed Italy a one-sided 34-5 bonus point defeat. We are challenging you to remember who started for England that day, as the match was played in front of an empty stadium during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
You have five minutes to provide your answers, good luck!
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