Fraser Dingwall: England centre believes Ollie Lawrence can be 'One of the World's Best'

"It was a lot of fun." Dingwall told the media after the win. "I think from the first 15 [minutes] we'd actually started really well, but not necessarily got the results. They [New Zealand] managed to get some decent scores on us. So, for us to stick to what we wanted to do and wrestle our way back into the game, and then ultimately, go after them in the second half, it's just really crazy!"

Dingwall has earned a reputation around the England camp as the 'glue' player that binds England's back-line together. His adhesive attack links the fly half linchpin with the explosive outside backs, and also brings in the powerful forward carriers into the fray. Dingwall has had to bide his time for an England run, as for so long the midfield pairing of Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence took a stronghold upon the 12 and 13 England jerseys.

However, when Lawrence ruptured his Achilles in England's Six Nations win over Italy, the door opened for Dingwall to make his mark to Steve Borthwick with an extended run in the centres. The 26-year-old certainly did just that, having retained the 12 shirt for England's trio of November Tests so far. Dingwall expressed how he is steadily feeling all the more comfortable upon the Test match stage, with the win over the All Blacks ranking high up in his personal career highlights.

"It's probably up there at the top. It's easily in my top three moments to be honest. Just from a personal perspective, it's the most I felt [like] myself within that shirt, and I felt that I've been able to give that to the team, what I want for myself. So, to do that was really personally pleasing. Ultimately, I'm so pleased for the team, but [there is] also some nice personal edge to that as well."

All eyes were on Dingwall mid-way through the second half, as the East Midlanders midfielder exploded onto an expertly timed line to cap off a stunning strike-move score in South West London. After George Ford had marched England down-field with an inch-perfect 50-22, the line-out was successfully retained to send Ollie Lawrence cascading to the gain-line. However, instead of breaking through the row of black jerseys, the Bath man shipped a slight pass to the supporting line of Dingwall, who skipped free for a diving score underneath the Allianz uprights.

"We'd [Dingwall and Lawrence] actually called it a couple of line-outs before. We ran it, and we were both like, 'Oh, I was in a bit of space there, it actually feels like I might be a good option there'. Then we came to the play, called it, and then said, 'Oh, you're easily going to get to 12 here'. I thought, 'I'm going to be on'. He [Lawrence] fully agreed. Then, he played right to the line, and I just skated through untouched. It was quite nice for me, it was built over the game."

Dingwall is relishing the opportunity to play in the centre of the park alongside Lawrence, with the two midfielders sharing a history that dates back to their time together in the England Age Group set-up. Whilst the duo have never plied their trade together at the same club, with Dingwall being a Saints stalwart and Lawrence a product of Worcester Warriors before his move to Bath, the two have an undeniable chemistry in the centres that Borthwick is delighted to unleash.

"I feel lucky that I'm able to play alongside someone as talented as that is." Dingwall said. "He can do some unbelievable things, and he can open a little bit of space for me at times as well, which we saw today. Centre partnerships always take a bit of time to develop as you work out how you can complement each other. Fortunately enough, we've known each other for a long time.

"We've played some age group stuff together. So, to kind of build to this now, being the first time we've had a bit of a run of playing together. it's been nice. 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 where it puts him into space as well."

Dingwall and Lawrence are both alumni from the England U20 class of 2018/19, with the Saints man then elaborating upon how their former midfield partnership upon the age-group stage has benefited their axis under the bright lights of a senior test match.

"There's a bit of understanding, but also, I think it just takes work. Work on the training week and spending time together. I'm not going to shy away from the fact, there's no secret other than spending time and talking about things and reviewing things together. Actually putting in this work to understand how a partnership works and how you can get the best out of each other and make a back-line function. We're hopefully starting to find a bit of that"

Dingwall, who's calf injury prevented him from taking a place upon England's Summer tour of Argentina and the United States, knows all to well the frustrations that come with an untimely spell on the side-lines. However, Dingwall's issue paled in comparison to that of Lawrence's aforementioned Achilles tear, that kept the in-form centre out of action from this past Summer's British & Irish Lions tour of Australia. Dingwall shared how impressed he has been by Lawrence's comeback to the England squad, and praised the undying desire to the the best midfielder in the world.

"So, one [thing] to 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. Look at the way he recovered from his rehab. You can't say that his mindset wasn't in a great spot, when he's come back a few months earlier and he was pushing on every single facility he could, to get out what he could from it. It's a great sign to show that he's in a great spot mentally, and you're seeing some good performances from him."

England's victory over the All Blacks wasn't just a momentous win for Steve Borthwick's side, as the result has had a tremendous impact upon the mission objective from inside the New Zealand camp. After their defeat in South West London, All Blacks captain Scott Barrett expressed his devastation at how the Kiwi dream of a Grand Slam tour of the Home Nations has past his side by, thanks to the tremendous efforts from a bouyed England outfit.

Whilst Dingwall expressed how his camp never set out for any definite 'Grand Slam' goals this Autumn Series, the Northampton man did share upon how his side are adamant to not peak too early, with a tough test against Argentina booked in for this Sunday.

"It [Grand Slam] wasn't spoken around like winning all the games. I think we were very much week by week focused. But, we've got long term goals around where we want to get to, and this is all part of it, and building momentum. building identity and understanding what we're about as a group, and the belief within that as as we touched on earlier, that's one of the main objectives for this autumn. I think we're doing a pretty good job with it so far."

"We don't want to be a side that peaks, and has one performance or has a massive spike. If you want to truly be the team that we want to be, we've got to do it every single week. I've got no questions around how the group is going to turn up with the same attitude to get better, review the game honestly and take the learnings from it. [We will] Take what's positive from from it, but once again, it's about attacking another week, you're playing a quality Argentina side, and that becomes the next most important thing."

Sounding off, Dingwall shared his thoughts on the incoming visitors from South America. Argentina put out a brilliant second half performance this past Sunday, to upset the odds up in Edinburgh. After chasing a 21-0 deficit into the closing 24 minutes, Los Pumas silenced Murrayfield with a five-try onslaught to rack up a staggering 33-24 victory over Scotland.

"They're a dynamic team, aren't they?" Dingwall added. "I think they're physical with their forwards, but they're backs are tight and they're able to move the ball nicely. There's some speed and some really good players out there. It's not a challenge that we're going to take lightly, it's a proper test. So, we're just really exciting to get into another week when it comes around."