Fraser Dingwall has revealed the secret ingredient behind his flourishing centre partnership with Ollie Lawrence, a combination that proved instrumental in England's stunning 33-19 victory over New Zealand at Twickenham.
The Making of a Midfield Force
The Northampton Saints star explained that while they played together at youth level, this autumn's Quilter Nations Series provided their first proper opportunity to link up for the senior England team. Their first start together during the Six Nations against Italy lasted less than ten minutes before Lawrence suffered a ruptured achilles tendon, an injury that ruled him out of British and Irish Lions contention.
Now fully established as Steve Borthwick's preferred 12-13 axis, the pair have started together in the 38-18 win over Fiji and the magnificent 33-19 triumph against the All Blacks, England's first victory over New Zealand at Twickenham since 2012.
Partnership Perfection Against the All Blacks
Their understanding reached new heights during the historic All Blacks clash, where they dovetailed superbly in attack. Lawrence demonstrated his remarkable physical power in the first half, shoving aside Leroy Carter and bouncing off Beauden Barrett to score a try.
The second half showcased their complementary skills perfectly. Lawrence showed delicate handling to expertly tip the ball inside to Dingwall, who had run a stunning line to scythe between two defenders and touch down for a try that extended England's lead to 25-12.
"I just feel lucky I'm able to play alongside someone as talented as that," said Dingwall. "He can do some unbelievable things, he can open a little bit of space for me as well which we saw."
The Hard Work Behind the Magic
Dingwall emphasised that there are no shortcuts to developing an effective centre partnership. "Centre partnerships always take a little bit of time to develop and you work out how you can complement each other," he explained. "Fortunately we've known each other for a long time, we played some age group stuff together."
The 26-year-old revealed their contrasting styles make them particularly effective. "He's obviously a bit bigger than me and can do some of the power work and hopefully I can do some of the bits to put him in space as well."
He stressed that their success stems from dedicated work during training weeks, spending time together reviewing performances and constantly communicating. "There's no secret other than spending time together, talking with each other, reviewing things together and actually putting in the work," Dingwall added.
Remarkably, Dingwall believes Lawrence has returned from his devastating achilles injury stronger than ever. "What I know about Ollie is that he wants to be one of the greatest centres in the world and he's got the capability to do that," he said. "Look at the way he recovered from his rehab. His mind is clearly in a great spot if he's come back a few months early."
Dingwall also provided fascinating insight into their 55th-minute try, explaining they had identified the space several lineouts earlier. "We came to the play and called it and said 'you're against 12 here so I think I'm going to be on' and he agreed," he detailed. "He played right at the line and I skated through untouched."
With England now on a 10-game winning streak, Dingwall emphasised the importance of completing a perfect autumn by beating Argentina at Allianz Stadium next weekend.
"It's incredibly important," he stated. "We don't want to be a team that peaks and has one brilliant performance. If you want to truly be the team that we want to be, you've got to do it every single week."
He acknowledged the challenge posed by a Pumas side that has already defeated Scotland and Wales this month, but expressed confidence in England's week-by-week focus and long-term goals.
