Lawrence shares own account on ‘cheating’ allegations

Ollie Lawrence has come under some wayward fire over the past week following his unfortunate head-on collision with fellow England teammate Alex Mitchell in Bath Rugby’s Gallagher Premiership match against Northampton Saints.

The incident, which occurred on Sunday, saw Lawrence breaking through the Northampton defensive line before clashing heads with the oncoming Mitchell, causing Lawrence to halt play as he hit the deck in apparent distress. The incident was subsequently reviewed by match officials, leading to a penalty decision to be given in Lawrence’s favour.

While the decision was arguably correct to the letter of the law, many fans have written it off simply as a ‘rugby incident’ which would not have been looked at if Lawrence hadn’t pulled up. The incident gained plenty of notoriety at the time because it allowed Bath to take the lead with mere minutes left on the clock, almost deciding the result for the visitors. Fortunately for Northampton, the home side were able to recover, knocking a penalty kick of their own over just moments later to seal the victory.

@ollielawrence13 Vlog 3 | Pt 3 – My take on what unfolded at the game v Northampton😇🗣️ Anything you wanna see in the Vlogs? Comment below 👇🏾 @Bath Rugby @England Rugby #fyp #rugby #bath #vlog #dayinthelife #rugby #england ♬ original sound – Ollie Lawrence

Sadly for Lawrence, however, allegations of cheating have since arisen from opposing fans following the incident, causing the Bath star to clear the air on his personal TikTok account. The 25-year-old explained:

“We collided head on head, It wasn’t bad enough, probably, for me to go down in the way that I did. I probably could have carried on and allowed the ref to pull it back afterwards if he thought there was foul play, but in that moment, whether my judgement was clouded or not, I felt like I was hit head on head, so I went down.

“I was completely entitled to. I didn’t cheat the system. I didn’t dive. By the letter of the law, and for our own safety, if there’s a head collision, you’re allowed to go down and the ref can review it.”

“I don’t think I was cheating,” he added.

“People say I brought the game into disrepute. I would argue that I didn’t. I just went by the letter of the law. But I do apologise for that because, at the end of the day, there are a lot of kids that look up to us as players and I don’t want people to think that I’m a cheat or a diver.

“I want people to play the game and enjoy it and play it in the right spirit so, like I said, I apologise for my actions in that moment. I’ll leave the referee to decide if there’s head contact in the future.”

If that wasn’t enough to be dealing with, there have also been suggestions that the Bath centre revelled in the decision after it was noted that he smirked at fellow teammate Finn Russell as the shot was being lined up.

Sorry but Ollie Lawrence is an arse !! First a cheap shot very late shoulder charge in Hendy then milking the Mitchell situation like a footballer and each time grinning as he got the result he wanted. Shouldn’t be anywhere near an England shirt

— Ed Gibson (@Gibson_XL) January 5, 2025

“In terms of my reactions during the game, I do smile after I make a mistake,” he continued.

“It’s something I have done my whole career. It’s just my way of getting over it and moving on to the next thing. There was no wry smile or a wink or whatever people seem to think they saw.

“That’s just me cracking on and getting on with the next thing. I’m probably just talking to the next person on the field next to me and making a joke at some point because, at the end of the day, I’m trying to get over it and get on to the next thing.”

Fans have been very receptive to his video, with one fan saying: “Thought you played amazing, don’t listen to any haters who can’t seem to understand the professionalism of rugby these days”, whilst another added:“Fair play Olly big respect for this. Head safety is huge as it should be in rugby and some fans can’t quite grasp that yet as miss the ‘old’ days. Name me a footballer that would do this”.

Bath line up this coming Sunday to face ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Investec Champions Cup.