Bath center Ollie Lawrence has denied cheating or diving to foul England teammate Alex Mitchell during Sunday’s 35-34 defeat to Northampton in the Premier League.
Lawrence was making a break when Bath were 32-31 down with just three minutes remaining when the incident occurred.
With little time to react, Mitchell’s shoulder made contact with Lawrence’s chest and the force of the blow brought their heads together.
Despite having an open field in front of him, Lawrence slowly fell to the ground holding his face and referee Anthony Woodthorpe subsequently yellow carded Saints scrum-half Mitchell.
“We collided head-on,” Lawrence said in a video on his TikTok account.
“It probably wasn’t bad enough that I went down like that. I probably could have continued and had the referee withdraw afterwards if he thought there was foul play, but at that moment, Whether my judgment was clouded or no, I felt like I was hit in the head, so I went down.
“I was completely entitled to that. I did not manipulate the system. I did not dive. According to the letter of the law, and for our own safety, in the event of a head collision you are allowed to go down and the referee can judge it.”
Northampton secured a 35-34 success against the Premier League leaders thanks to Fin Smith’s penalty in the final kick of the match.
Lawrence, 25, was not assessed for head injuries because the collision did not warrant medical intervention, according to data collected on the sidelines.
“I don’t think I cheated,” he added.
“People say I brought the game into disrepute. I would say I didn’t do that. I just followed the letter of the law. But I apologize for that because at the end of the day there are a lot of kids who look up to us as players and I don’t want people to think I’m a cheater or a diver.
“I want people to play the game, enjoy it and play it in the right atmosphere, so as I said, I apologize for my actions at that time. I leave it to the referee to decide whether the future main contact.”
Lawrence was seen smiling in the aftermath as teammate Finn Russell set up the resulting penalty as the Franklin’s Gardens crowd cheered.
“As for my reactions during the match, I smile when I made a mistake,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve done my entire 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 seemed to think they saw.
“That’s just me moving on and moving on to the next thing. I probably just talk to the next person on the field next to me and make a joke at some point because in the end I try to get over it and move on to the next.”
