“It probably wasn’t bad enough for me to fall the way I did. I probably could have continued to play and allowed the referee to withdraw later if he thought there had been a foul, but at that point, whether my judgment was clouded or not, I felt like I had been hit in the head, so I went down .
“I had every right to do so. I didn’t cheat the system. I didn’t dive. According to the law and for our own safety, in the event of a head-on collision you can go down and the referee can check it.”
Northampton triumphed 35-34 against the Premiership leaders after Fin Smith’s penalty with the last kick of the match.
Lawrence, 25, failed a head injury evaluation because the collision did not require medical intervention, according to data collected on the sidelines.
“I don’t think I cheated,” he added.
“People say I have discredited the game. I say that was not the case. I simply followed the letter of the law. But I’m sorry about that, because at the end of the day, there are a lot of kids here who see us as players and I don’t want people to think I’m a cheater or a diver.
“I want people to play this game, enjoy it and in the right spirit, so like I said, I apologize for my behavior at the time. I leave it to the referee to decide whether there will be head contact in the future.”
Lawrence was all smiles after the match as teammate Finn Russell awarded a penalty and the Franklin’s Gardens fans jeered.
“When it comes to my reactions during a match, I actually smile when I make a mistake,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve done my entire career. It’s just my way of getting over it and moving on to the next thing. There was no crooked smile or wink or anything that people think they saw.
“It’s just me joking and moving on to the next thing. I’m probably just talking to the next person on the pitch next to me and at some point I’m joking because ultimately I’m trying to forget about it and move on to the next thing.”
