Johann van Graan issues promising Ollie Lawrence injury update
Bath head coach Johann van Graan and head of medical Rory Murray have issued a statement today saying they are working towards centre Ollie Lawrence making a return to playing during the Guinness Six Nations.
The in-form centre injured his hip against Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday and has since been replaced by Bath teammate Max Ojomoh in England's training squad during their training camp in Girona this week.
Despite reports suggesting the 24-year-old will be out for the entirety of England's Six Nations campaign, van Graan provided a slightly more positive outlook on Friday ahead of Bath's Gallagher Premiership clash with Bristol Bears after Lawrence had seen a specialist.
The medical update also gave an expected return date for fellow England international Ted Hill, who has been out of action since undergoing hamstring surgery in October. The flanker is expected to return in mid-March, which should be in time for the Premiership's resumption after the Six Nations.
The Bath statement reads: "Ollie Lawrence sustained a hip injury in Bath Rugby's game against Stade Toulousain. He has seen a specialist and we are working with England Rugby to establish his return date. We are working towards a return during this Six Nations campaign.
"Ted Hill continues his rehabilitation following surgery in October. He is on course for a return in mid-March."
Lawrence was almost a certainty to start in England's midfield for their opening match of the Six Nations against Italy in Rome next week, particularly with Manu Tuilagi still out with a groin injury. But with England facing reigning champions Ireland and then France in the final two games, a fit Lawrence could potentially be a major fillip to Steve Borthwick and his squad for what appear to be England's trickiest two fixtures of the Championship on paper.
Latest Comments
All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
Go to comments