England hopeful Ollie Lawrence ready to excel in international rugby, says Worcester director of rugby Alan Solomons

Uncapped centre Ollie Lawrence is ready to take the international stage by storm for England according to Worcester director of rugby Alan Solomons.

Head coach Eddie Jones will name his team on Thursday morning to face Italy in a potential Six Nations title decider with Lawrence a prime contender to start in the midfield after injuries to fly-half George Ford and centre Manu Tuilagi. Scrum-half Ben Youngs will win his 100th cap in Rome while Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson is poised to receive a recall after Willi Heinz withdrew from the squad with a soft-tissue injury.

Lawrence is one of a number of uncapped players in line to make their debuts against Italy, but Solomons says that the 21-year-old is more than equipped to fill the power void left by Manu Tuilagi. “He is ready for the opportunity,” Solomons told Telegraph Sport. “He is extremely confident. The big occasion won’t faze him at all. He will rise to it.

“He got quite a few Premiership games under his belt last season. That has stood him in good stead. He has got fantastic genetics. A big strong boy with a lot of power but with really good feet. Manu Tuilagi is exceptionally powerful. Ollie has got power, too, but at this stage in their careers, Ollie’s footwork is better and he has probably got a yard of pace on him as well.”

Jones’ other midfield options would involve moving Owen Farrell or Henry Slade to inside centre. Lawrence has played most of his rugby for Worcester at outside centre but Solomons is confident he can make the switch with the experience of Farrell and Slade either side of him. “He will handle that,” Solomons said. “He will not have a problem with that. He has played at 12 before when we have needed him to. If he were to be selected at 12 he would have Henry Slade who is outstanding at 13 and Owen Farrell who is the best fly-half in the world. If he does start then he has that X-factor to make something happens out of nothing.”

The other area of real fascination in Jones’ selection is the back row. Will the credit in the bank accrued by the trio of Sam Underhill, Tom Curry and Bill Vunipola in the run-up to last year’s World Cup final be enough to see off the rising threat of Bristol’s Ben Earl or Wasps’ Jack Willis, who performed a clean sweep of the player of the year awards? Willis, who won 46 turnovers in the league, is at a disadvantage having only come into the England camp this week after the Premiership final against Exeter but has caught the eye of defence coach John Mitchell. “He’s a really good character, asks really good questions, extremely flexible in the way he goes about his poaching as we call it,” Mitchell said.

Selection will be determined as much by how much players complement each other as by their individual strengths. “It is getting that mix right: having that ability to carry, have the ability to create contests in breakdown, having the ability to distribute,” Mitchell said. “You need guys off nine and you need guys off 10. You have two guys who are generally hunting the ball defensively and then you have one who has to be a bit more patient. Then you have a third lineout jumper. You have to get all those things covered.”

Just as there is a vacancy in the midfield so there is a spot that needs filling in the second row after George Kruis’ move to Japan and Courtney Lawes’ injury. Charlie Ewels is the favourite to start alongside Maro Itoje. When the Barbarians’ game was called off on Sunday, Ewels’ captained one of the practice teams opposite Farrell in a full-scale practice, indicating the faith the England coaching staff have in him.

“Charlie’s a really good leader,” Mitchell said. “He speaks extremely well, he’s clear and specific, he’s a very good lineout caller as well, which is important. You generally need a couple of those within your group.”

England will need to win with a bonus point and boost their points difference to maintain a strong shot of winning the Six Nations, but Mitchell says they will not be throwing caution to the wind. “First and foremost, the performance has to win the game. It will come down to setting the tone right from the start, making sure we put ourselves in a position in the first 40 minutes, after that we can take an opportunity to put the foot on the throat.”