Oliver Francis Lawrence (born 18 September 1999) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who plays as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

club Bath and the England national team

Early life

Lawrence was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. His father, Michael, played rugby on the wing for

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

. He attended rugby-playing schools, West House for Junior followed by

Old Swinford Hospital Old Swinford Hospital is a secondary boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. It is one of 36 state boarding schools in England, meaning school fees are ...

for secondary, and then to sixth form at

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmaste ...

on a scholarship. Lawrence had trials with Aston Villa and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

and also played age-group

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. Ultimately he chose rugby and by the age of fifteen had joined the academy of

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

Club career

Lawrence burst onto the senior Warriors scene in November 2017 with a try on his first-team debut against Sale Sharks in the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

Sixways Stadium Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premier 15s side University of Worcester Warriors and football side Worcester Raiders. Prio ...

. He went on to make three first-team appearances during the 2017–18 season while he impressed for Warriors Under 18s and Worcester Cavaliers, the latter where he scored two tries in six appearances, which also included four try assists in a single game against Sale Jets. Lawrence continued his impressive progress in the 2018-19 campaign when he made fourteen senior appearances, and scored two important tries which helped Warriors to successive

EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

victories over Ospreys and Stade Français. On 5 December 2018, Lawrence signed his first professional contract to stay with Worcester, and was subsequently promoted to the senior squad from the 2019–20 season. He scored a first-half try hat-trick in just ten minutes against Enisei-STM in the European Challenge Cup in January 2020, and a try against

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

on his first Premiership start later that month. In May 2022 Lawrence was a member of the Warriors side that beat

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in the final of the

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions. History The Premiership Rugby Cup was ...

at the Brentford Community Stadium to win Worcester their first ever top-flight trophy. On 5 October 2022, Lawrence had his contract terminated at Worcester due to the liquidation of the company to which players had been contracted. After initially joining Bath on a short-term loan due to uncertainty around the future of the Warriors, Lawrence signed a long-term deal with the club in October 2022. On 10 May 2023, after a very successful first season at Bath, Lawrence was named the Premiership Player of the season.

International career

Lawrence first represented England at U16 level against Wales where he scored two tries and was awarded man of the match. In 2018 Lawrence scored a try for England under-18 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and also played one game in the

2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2018 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. England were the defending champions. Participants Table Fixtures Round 1 ...

against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Later that year he received his first call-up to train with the senior England squad by coach Eddie Jones prior to their summer tour of South Africa. He again represented England in the

2019 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2019 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 12th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. France were the defending champions. Ireland won the tournament and a Grand Slam, ...

, before an ankle injury during the tournament ended his season two months early, preventing him from competing at the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the und ...

. Lawrence was again called up to the England senior squad for the completion of the

2020 Six Nations Championship The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

and the subsequent

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

. On 31 October 2020 he made his senior England debut from the bench in their delayed final Six Nations match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

which they won to win the tournament. The following month saw Lawrence make his first start in the opening round of the Autumn Nations Cup against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. In June 2021 Lawrence was included in the squad for Tests against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. On 4 July 2021 he scored his first try at international level against the US in a 43–29 win, but was forced to leave the field early with a head injury and did not appear in their next game against Canada. New coach Steve Borthwick selected Lawrence for the

2023 Six Nations Championship The 2023 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

and he scored the winning try in a victory against

at the Millennium Stadium. Later that year he was included in the squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

and came off the bench as a substitute during both the quarter-final victory over Fiji and semi-final elimination against champions

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He also featured in their last fixture of the tournament as England defeated

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to finish third and claim a bronze medal.

Career statistics

List of international tries

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Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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2021 July rugby union tests The 2021 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) were a series of international rugby union matches that are typically played in the Southern Hemisphere during the July international ...

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Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

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2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

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Parc Olympique Lyonnais Parc Olympique Lyonnais, known for sponsorship reasons as Groupama Stadium, is a 59,186-seat stadium in Décines-Charpieu, in the Lyon Metropolis. The home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais, it replaced their previous stadium, Stade de ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

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Honours

Club ; Worcester Warriors 1x

: 2021–22 International ; England 1x Six Nations Championship:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

; Individual 1x

player of the season: 2022–23

References

External links

*
England Rugby Profile

Worcester Warriors Profile

Ultimate Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Ollie 1999 births Living people English rugby union players Worcester Warriors players Bath Rugby players People from Bromsgrove Rugby union centres England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Birmingham, West Midlands 2023 Rugby World Cup players