Bath centre should not have apologised for stopping match against Northampton after going down from clash of heads

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.