Lawrence deserves plaudits for playing streetwise way

Comment Bath centre should not be sorry for stopping match against Northampton after innocuous clash of heads

- Gerard Meagher

A round of applause for Ollie Lawrence. Not for his apology after Bath's last-gasp defeat by Northampton, which was entirely unnecessary, but for having the wherewithal to put his side into a winning position by demonstrating a streetwise streak all too seldom shown in elite rugby union.

To recap, Lawrence was pilloried by Northampton supporters for going down in instalments after a fairly innocuous clash of heads with Alex Mitchell in the last few minutes of Saints' thrilling 35-34 win over Bath on Sunday. He took himself down to his knees, clutched his face and in doing so, made sure that the match was stopped, the incident reviewed.

Upon review, the referee Anthony Woodthorpe - who enjoyed an excellent match in the middle - determined that Mitchell was too high in his attempted tackle and the England scrum-half was shown a yellow card. Bath were awarded a penalty, Finn Russell kicked it and it would have given the league leaders victory had Fin Smith not responded in kind from the tee in the dying throes.

Lawrence was evidently fired up throughout the match - it was his late tackle on George Hendy that forced the Northampton full-back off the pitch just before half-time - and after he was caught smiling on camera, having just won the aforementioned penalty, he further provoked the ire of Saints supporters. On Sunday night he took to social media and wrote: "Apologies if my actions today offended anyone. On review, I understand the frustration voiced! I'll be better."