Ollie Lawrence reflects on a year of personal highs amid a global pandemic that made him appreciate his career as a professional rugby player:
Looking back over 2020 how would you assess your year?
Rugby-wise, I can’t say 2020 has been too bad to me. This year has made me appreciate the position I’m in, doing what I do every day. From everything that happened with Michael Fatialofa and his injury in January, then COVID, it’s made me feel very grateful for the position I’m in.
Now I’ve had time to look back on it, it meant a lot to me to be involved with England.
What was it like winning your first England cap against Italy in Rome and being part of a Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup-winning squad?
It’s been a cool couple of months. It’s been pretty intense but very enjoyable and I learned a lot from it. I am going to take what I learned there and, hopefully, come back here a replicate some of that,
Winning my first cap was pretty special for me. It’s something that I have dreamed of since I was a child. I wish my parents could have been there to see me win my first cap but I guess that in the current climate that wasn’t possible. But it’s something I have always wanted to do and hopefully I can now push on and win as many caps as possible.
It was a weird one not having fans there so the atmosphere was less intense and it meant I could focus on the job in hand and enjoy the game.
It was great to be involved with the team and to finish off by winning the Six Nations
Hopefully your parents will get the chance to see you play for England this year?
The aim is to progress here at Worcester but the Six Nations is the next target for me. That’s something I want to be involved in. Fingers crossed, with the way things are going with Covid, a few fans might be allowed in to watch and my parents will get that opportunity.
What is the main difference between training at club and international level?
I would say that it’s the intensity. The quality of the players there and the way they train is just relentless. They want to be the best in the world. There is a real drive, everyone is behind it, everyone knows what they need to do and they push the boundaries and drives the standards throughout the whole day and the whole training camp.
What is it like being coached by Eddie Jones?
He’s been really good for me. He’s really good coach, a good people person and he’s brought the best out of me personally. It’s been good to get to know him and to work with all the other coaches there.
It’s been very beneficial for me. It’s taught me how to be a professional on and off the field. There are some players there who go over and above in terms of their recovery, the way they prepare and the way they perform.
It brought the best out of me in driving my own standards and bringing in the players around me and supporting them so that we bring the best out of each other. It created a really positive environment.
The next Rugby World Cup is only two years away, have you given that any thought?
There’s a long way to go before I can start thinking about that. I’ve had my experience with England My main job now is to focus on Worcester, put in some good performances here and help us to get as far up the table as possible.
Have you been pleased with your form for Warriors in the two matches you’ve played since returning from England duty?
It’s hard to look at individual form when the team doesn’t get the results but I think we are close to getting the results we need.
All I want to do is add my piece to the puzzle and give us some momentum to get a couple of wins and build on that in the New Year.
How do you assess the season so far?
It has been frustrating. Even in the first game when we beat London Irish I don’t think we played to the best of our ability.
We are making good strides to push on now. We have some really talented players we just need a few areas to click for us and we will start to climb the table.
While you were with England Oli Morris took his chance to impress. How do you rate him?
Oli has been class over the last few weeks and months. At the end of last season, when we came back after COVID lockdown, he really stepped up
I’ve seen him play since when we were under-18s and’s he’s a class player. He’s a really good defender and a great attacker and he’s added a lot to the team. He’s really pushing people for positions now.
There are a lot of young boys who have stepped up over the last few months which is good to see because it means that as a club we are moving in the right direction.
How have the new coaching team settled in?
All the boys are happy with all the coaches. They have gelled very well here.
I haven’t had as much contact with Mark Irish as he is scrum coach but Jockey – Matt Sherratt – has been really good for me. He’s brought a good side out of me and really pushed me on.
I’ve enjoyed working with JT as defence coach and I’m sure all the forwards are really happy that the coaches have come in and settled as well as they have.