Ollie Lawrence: England and Bath centre wants to come back ‘better and stronger’ after Achilles injury

Lawrence had an operation eight days after the injury and spent the next two weeks in a cast unable to do most of the things he could normally do day to day.

He then transferred to a boot which restricted the flexion on his ankle and gradually moved to walking with trainers, fit with a specific raised insole, to support his Achilles.

He also explored other techniques to try and aid his recovery, including getting an hyperbaric oxygen chamber and red light therapy kits delivered to his home, which he documented on social media, external.

He used the chamber for an hour and a half, twice a day, for four months passing the time lying inside watching TV series on his iPad.

“It was all little tools, small one percenters that would add up to hopefully get me back on the field in a quicker period of time. It seemed to do the trick,” Lawrence said.

“I don’t know if was solely down to that or the medical team here or just genetics with myself, but all of it mixed together was the perfect combination.”

He sought advice from former England and Bath back and friend Anthony Watson, who ruptured his Achilles tendon twice in 2018.

“He was always there for me and chatting about things I was going through,” Lawrence added.

“He checked me when I needed to be checked but also was really positive when he saw things and when I showed him stuff about how the recovery journey was going.”