"Breaking the Gainline" - Ellis Genge and Ollie Lawrence Lead Six Nations as Top Carriers - Ruck
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“Breaking the Gainline” – Ellis Genge and Ollie Lawrence Lead Six Nations as Top Carriers

28 February 2023
Tom Sansom

England duo Ellis Genge and Ollie Lawrence are leading the carrying charts from the front, in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations.

Genge is living up to his nickname as the ‘Baby Rhino’, having achieved the best average for carries over the gain-line per minute in the competition.

Ellis Genge of England goes for the gap between WP Nel of Scotland and Pierre Schoeman of Scotland during the Six Nations Championship, Calcutta Cup match between England and Scotland at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 4th 2023. – PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK

Opta Stats confirm Genge’s impact up-front, having made the most carries out of any front rower in the 2023 Six Nations, with 20. Having played 169 minutes for England over three rounds, the Bristol prop makes an impressive 9.5 carries over the gainline per 80 minutes.

https://twitter.com/OptaJonny/status/1630527427238670336

England centre Ollie Lawrence is a close second, with 9.3 carries over the gainline per 80 minutes of match action. The Bath player is surpassing his role as England’s replacement for Manu Tuilagi, as the Sale centre is serving a red card suspension, and was recently dropped from Steve Borthwick’s squad.

Ollie Lawrence of England is tackled by Tommaso Allan of Italy during the Six Nations Match between England and Italy at Twickenham, London on 12 Feb 2023 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)

Lawrence has been capitalising on his recent return to the England squad, and marked last weekend’s match against Wales with a well-taken try. A skilful one-handed finish in the second half, saw Lawrence take the match out of sight for Wales, with England securing an important win in Cardiff.