‘The England snub was the wake-up call I needed’: OLLIE LAWRENCE on the frustrations of last season, why he’s now raring to go, the latest on his Bath contract and how wedding season came at a good time for Johann van Graan

For a man who wasn’t away with England, Ollie Lawrence had a particularly busy summer.

Six of Bath’s first-teamers – Lawrence included – tied the knot during the off-season, so the squad jetted around Europe to multiple celebrations.

‘There was basically a wedding every weekend, so I think the gaffer (Johann van Graan) had quite a headache trying to organise pre-season fixtures and training,’ Lawrence tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Myself, Will Muir, Beno Obano, Finn Russell, Ted Hill, Will Stuart. There aren’t many left now! It was a packed wedding season.

‘I got married in France at the back end of August, an hour or so north of Bordeaux. We spent a couple of days there. Anthony Watson, Marcus Smith, Cam Redpath and Joe Cokanasiga were groomsmen.

‘Coming back from weekends away, there were a couple of tough pre-season training sessions on a Monday morning but we got through it! We held up our end of the bargain with Johann.

‘Everyone’s pretty settled now and the gaffer probably prefers that to all of us being single! I don’t know how different the environment would be if we were, but it’s more like a family vibe at the club now.’

Lawrence, 27, is hoping to show similar stability on the pitch. Bath missed out on major trophies last season and the centre slipped out of Steve Borthwick’s immediate Test plans.

He had been primed for a British & Irish Lions call-up last year but ruptured his achilles playing for England and was sidelined for more than six months.

‘As a whole, I wasn’t really happy with how last season went for me,’ he says. ‘Coming back from my achilles injury quite quickly, I felt really good. Everything seemed to be going really well but I had a bit of a wobble after the autumn. A few injuries set me back and then I didn’t really feel like I could get rolling after that.

‘I wasn’t really playing to my potential, which was frustrating. A bit of it was physical and a bit of it was probably going through the motions. When I’m at my best, I know I can really be an addition to this side. 

‘This summer is probably the first time I’ve had a full pre-season in five years and that’s been good for me. Before this, I had a few niggles in my knee and I probably wasn’t accelerating as quickly as I wanted to. Having an off season, letting everything calm down, can help with that.’

Lawrence describes missing out on England selection for the summer’s Nations Championship games with South Africa, Fiji and Argentina as ‘frustrating’.

‘I had a chat with Steve and hopefully I can see some reward from it,’ he says. ‘I wouldn’t say it was a kick up the a**e – I didn’t take it personally. I didn’t deserve to go on that tour. 

‘I hadn’t played to the level I’ve shown over the last few years, whether that’s for club or country. Maybe it was the wake-up call I needed in terms of realising I needed to get my body back to where it was and firing on all cylinders.’

Ahead of the new PREM Rugby season, England’s top league is shaping up to be more competitive than last year, although Bath remain the biggest threat to Northampton’s title defence. 

They have the most valuable squad of players, boasting an international-standard backs division with the potential to take on the biggest clubs in Europe.

Yet their performances petered out last season, losing their home play-off against Exeter after failing to score off a 40-phase stand in the final play. They have lost the ball-carrying clout of Thomas du Toit and Alfie Barbeary, but they have brought in attack coach Mike Prendergast to improve their finishing power.

‘The messaging hasn’t been too dissimilar to previous years,’ says Lawrence, who has also lost his enhanced elite player squad contract with England after falling down Borthwick’s pecking order.

‘Yes, we wanted to win the PREM and the Champions Cup but it wasn’t a bad season for the club. We got to the semi-finals and we had opportunities to win both those games that we lost. We just missed a beat.

‘We’ve had a few coaching changes. We’ve all got the same goal to win the league and there’s going to be a lot more competition, so we just want to get better. Mike came in on the attack and the detail he’s brought has been really good.

‘We discussed the semi-final in the first week and looked at a few bits, then we just parked it. You don’t want to dwell on the past. I didn’t watch the semi-final back but we went through a lot of phases at the end and that’s a prime example. 

‘It’s nobody’s fault but we just need to be better. We tapered off at the back end of the season and we weren’t putting teams away. We were allowing teams to creep back into games.

‘The main thing is our accuracy and our skill level. Mike knows he’s got a talented group to work with. It’s holding ourselves accountable to our skill accuracy and making sure we pull the trigger when we need to.    

‘Knowing when the forwards go to work and when we need to get the ball to the backs. There are small cues. There are changes to the maul so it’s utilising that and getting the ball into the backs’ hands when we need to.’

There is plenty to play for. Contract season is upon us and almost all of Bath’s centres – Lawrence, Redpath, Max Ojomoh and Louie Hennessey – are free agents next summer and will be looking to renew terms. The market tends to loosen up in World Cup years, providing players with an extra financial incentive to prove their worth.

‘I’m enjoying my rugby here and I’d love to stay,’ admits Lawrence. ‘As long as the gaffer wants to keep me and (club owner) Bruce Craig wants to keep me then I should be all right. What will be will be.’

Their new season starts today, away to Harlequins, and the finish line feels a long way away. Contracts, trophies and World Cup selection are all on the line. Lawrence might not have been awarded a central contract but Borthwick has been in constant contact.

‘The World Cup is in the back of my mind,’ says Lawrence. ‘Having a full season probably gives you the best chance, but my priority is these first six or seven games for Bath. Start fast, get moving, get some wins on the board and play some good rugby. I might not play the autumn. I might not play in the Six Nations. Who knows? 

‘But there’s a lot of rugby to be played before the World Cup next year. The main thing for me has been getting back to fitness and enjoying my rugby again.’