Scientists still struggle to work out how this Lawrence carry was possible
There was a brief moment at Twickenham on Sunday where everything mankind knows about the laws of physics, let alone the laws of rugby, were thrown out the window.
It came in the 60th minute, and has left scientists scratching their heads ever since. England’s Ollie Lawrence was the player in question, and it concerns a carry he made through the heart of the Italian defence.
The Bath centre ran over Italy fly-half Tommy Allan, which may not necessarily come as a surprise- not that the Italian is a bad tackler, rather the 101kg Englishman was playing exceptionally well in his man of the match display. However, the interesting thing about the carry was that he did not slow down at all in the process of running over Allan, in fact, he sped up if anything.
Most people would expect even the weakest tackler ever to slow down the strongest carrier by virtue of being in front of them. But somehow Lawrence was not slowed down by the tackle whatsoever. He then went on to randomly lose the ball, making it quite a bizarre few seconds.
On that carry alone the 23-year-old deserved to be named man of the match, but it was a performance where he consistently battered the visitors’ defence in England’s 31-14 win. England captain Owen Farrell partnered Lawrence in the midfield in a new 10-12 partnership. This is what he said about his teammate after the match:
“Ollie he did really well, he played the way he’s been playing for his club – destructive.
“I remember playing against him at the start of the season for Saracens at our place and he was holding the ball in one hand and batting everyone off like he did against Italy.
“It was good to see him break the line against Italy and get us on the front foot.”
Take a look at the carry:
💥 @OLawrence1 making his mark in the midfield 💪#ENGvITA | #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/VazXR4emQQ
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 12, 2023
