By Paul Eddison at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, Sportsbeat
Fin Smith paid tribute to teammate Ollie Lawrence after he suffered a serious Achilles injury that could end his season.
The England centre was forced off after just eight minutes of England 42-27 win over Italy, that keeps them in the hunt for the Guinness Six Nations title.
The initial indications are that Lawrence will face an extended period on the sidelines after injuring his Achilles in a non-contact incident, potentially ruling him out of both the rest of the Six Nations, but also Bath’s end of season and a possible Lions tour.
It is a cruel blow for the centre, who had been in fine form during this campaign and looked a strong contender to tour Australia with the Lions this summer – with Smith explaining that the England team will come together to support Lawrence.
He said: “You play in a game and you want to win but there is a deeper level to it. When you see one of your best mates potentially losing the chance to go on a Lions tour in what was bound to be a massive year for him, it breaks your heart.
“I was probably a bit too gutted on the pitch when that happened and it maybe rattled me for a few minutes. I probably made a few mistakes off the back of it. We are all absolutely devastated for him and have our fingers crossed that the scans hopefully say it’s not too bad but it’s not looking brilliant.
“He is absolutely devastated, he’s been a massive part of Bath, pushing them forward, a massive part of this England team. I don’t think he’s played below a seven or eight out of ten ever, for his club or country. So I’m devastated for him and I know he is devastated as well, we’ve got to get around him, teammates or whatever, we’ve got be good friends to him now because we know it’s going to be a tough few weeks.”
Following back-to-back one-point wins at home, England cut loose in this clash with Italy, running away with it in the second half after a tight opening 40 minutes.
A spell of three tries in nine minutes after the break blew the game wide open, with Steve Borthwick’s men scoring seven tries in all.
That puts them in the mix heading into Super Saturday, sitting second in the table, a point behind leaders France.
With a vastly inferior points difference, they will need to win in Cardiff against Wales, preferably with a bonus point, and then hope for Scotland to do them a favour in Paris in the final match.
It would be a title in his first season as captain for Maro Itoje, who said: "We just have to do what we have to do. Wales in Cardiff is a massive game, it is a tough place to go."
