Ollie Lawrence in contention for emotional Bath return as Worcester curtain-raiser approaches

Ollie Lawrence is in contention to make an early and emotional return from a ruptured Achilles for Bath in their pre-season match at Worcester next week, Bath coach Johan van Graan said Wednesday.

Lawrence, 25, has returned to training ahead of schedule after tearing his Achilles during the Six Nations and missing this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour. Van Graan said Bath had worked with England during the recovery process and that Lawrence "might be involved" in the Worcester fixture, the club's first home match since 2022.

"Ollie's back in training and he's ahead of schedule," van Graan said. "We've collaborated with England, because that's very important in the process, and hopefully you'll see him on the pitch soon. He set himself specific targets of when he wants to be back. I haven't seen one moment of him feeling sorry for himself. He took this head on. You'll see him return as a better rugby player, a better team-mate. It will take him some time to get back to performance because he's been out a long time but all credit to him."

The match carries extra resonance because Lawrence came through Worcester's academy before leaving when the club went bankrupt three years ago. Worcester will begin life back in the Championship this season, and van Graan called the fixture "a great story for them to return" for supporters who have not seen a home game for three years.

Lawrence has not played since the injury sustained in the Six Nations. His potential return will provide a timely boost for England head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of the autumn internationals, though Bath and England have stressed a managed approach to his reintroduction to competitive action.

The wider Premiership landscape this season is shaped by a cluster of recoveries and enforced absences. Sale flanker Tom Curry is set for a spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a torn ligament in his wrist, with Sale coach Alex Sanderson saying Curry's return will likely fall around the autumn internationals. "Tom's return to play sits him somewhere around the autumn internationals," Sanderson said. "He's healing well and he's dead positive."

Leicester forward George Martin remained sidelined, while Saracens coach Mark McCall confirmed utility back Elliot Daly is expected back in October after scans on several arm fractures. "Elliot has a few fractures in his arm. He has a scan next week, just to see how it's doing. We hope to have him back mid-way through that first Prem block," McCall said.

England and Premiership coaches are meeting in the coming weeks to plan load management for players returning from the Lions tour and for those coming off heavy workloads last season. Several players who exceeded a 30-match playing limit last season, including Maro Itoje, Tommy Freeman and Ben Earl, are scheduled to return in round three after mandatory stand-down periods.

Northampton coach Phil Dowson said clubs and England have discussed staggered rest plans. "I sat down with Steve and say we're going to give Tommy an extra week off between now and Christmas," Dowson said. "Steve Borthwick wants Tommy Freeman to be fit now, fit next year and fit in five years' time and that's what we want at Northampton Saints. How we do that, and who carries that burden, is going to be the big question. We're still yet to really figure that out. It can't always be the club."

Clubs and the RFU have acknowledged the need for coordinated load management, but detailed decisions over who shoulders rest periods and how they are balanced with international requirements remain under discussion as the season and the autumn internationals approach.