England back row Ben Earl is a different animal today from that of the man of two years ago. The hard-hitting eight-man has dug down deep into his mental psyche, and is now ready to return to the dark place for this Saturday’s clash with Scotland. The Guinness Men’s Six Nations enters it’s third round next weekend, with Earl eager to right the wrongs from Scotland’s recent visits to the Allianz Stadium.
Find your local Greene King and settle in for the 2025 Six Nations!
England have endured a miserable run of form against Scotland upon the men’s Test match stage, with the last four meetings between the sides seeing the Scots crowned Calcutta Cup victors. The famous trophy has collected dust up from it’s four year stint in the Scottish trophy cabinet, with Gregor Townsend’s side out to secure a history making fifth consecutive victory against England this weekend.
“It’s certainly not a record we want.” Earl said at today’s England media session. “But also, it (England) feels like a different team. It feels like a team that’s gone through a lot of hurt, a team that has such an unbelievable trust and relationship with one another now compared to teams that might have played in the past. But it’s certainly a record we have to change, yeah.”
The last time England hosted Scotland at the Allianz Stadium, Scotland took home the spoils of a 29-23 victory in the 2023 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. Earl remembered the match as a real learning curve upon his England journey, as after the defeat to Scotland, the back row was nearly sent homeward ‘tae think again’. Earl would return the following week to play Italy, but was then not used for by Borthwick until making the grade for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“I’m a big believer that those are the kind of games where you learn the harshest lessons. I distinctly remember 2023, Scotland at home, (that game) was a big turning point for me in terms of I had to learn a really harsh lesson.
“I don’t think I was involved in the Six Nations again under Steve for the rest of that campaign and that was a turning point for me and a time where the penny really dropped and I felt I had to learn some lessons. It’s something I’ve looked back on and, I’m almost grateful that you have those lessons when you have them. But it’s never nice.”
Whilst the back row has been regarded as one of England’s most consistent performers within the past 12 months, Earl shared how as recently as 2023, question marks were being raised on his involvement in the squad.
“(The lesson learned was) That I was unfit, that I didn’t know what it takes to become a top-class international rugby player, I didn’t know what it took to play under Steve. All of that, really. Some harsh lessons but nothing I’d change.”
“There’s different kinds (of fitness). It’s not necessarily unfit in terms of physiologically. It’s like, ‘I’m shattered, can I keep going?’ is a different mindset to ‘I’m shattered, I think I’ve emptied myself and got nothing left’, and you’ve always got more.
“Steve’s (Borthwick’s) a big believer in the back-rowers being the ones who run the furthest, work the hardest. You always think that until you get thrown into the Colosseum. It certainly felt that was a day for me, that I learnt the most.”
Earl and his England teammates have added an extra edge into their training week, with Steve Borthwick and his coaching staff steadily stoking the fires to get a rise out of his players. The England coaches have been readily reminding the players of their gut-punching track record against the Scots, with the subtle comment sprinkled in amidst re-watching previous Calcutta Cup defeats.
“I think there were lessons we learnt in terms of what Scotland want us to do, and how we did play into their hands. Then looking back on it, how we’re a different team now, a very different team with very different principles and have evolved. “
“You watch one clip and that leads you onto thinking about another that you were involved in. It has a big game feel this week.”
“That when we attacked we were passive, we played four passes when we could have played one, we passed instead of carried, we gave them the kind of loose, turnover ball that Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe and their strike runners need. We did all of that.
“It was another lesson where we started the game well and tailed off. It was a turning point in our campaign last year, and we went on and had a performance against Ireland two weeks later. There were similarities in those two games. We feel like we’ve evolved a long way.”
There’s no denying how Earl is on the radar for the 2025 British & Irish Lions, with head coach Andy Farrell expected to watch on at the Allianz in Saturday’s blockbuster match-up. Earl expressed how it would ‘naive’ to have had zero thoughts about a future call-up into the world famous red jersey, yet the Saracen shared a strong team orientated mentality as plenty of his England teammates are also vying for a place upon the tour to Australia.
“Yeah we have (spoken about the Lions). It’s naive not to. Everyone has personal aspirations, and everyone who’s been on a Lions tour that I’ve spoken to says it’s a highlight of their career. Everyone’s like ‘the team does well, we all do well individually’. That’s a good motto for us to go off. We’ll see what happens.”
However, the beauty of the Lions is that the best players from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland will all come together, with Earl up against positional rivals all throughout then 2025 Six Nations. Having already squared off against Caelan Doris upon the tournament opener in Dublin, Earl faces another challenger to the Lions back row, with Scotland co-captain Rory Darge set to meet Earl from the flank this Saturday.
“Yeah, I mean the Six Nations isn’t short of them [individual battles]. Doris and van der Flier the first week, the French back-row was tremendous two weeks ago, and then every week is a new challenge. I don’t necessarily like that idea of a big one-on-one match-up. Our pack versus theirs is a nice narrative for us to go off, and we’ll certainly feed off that. They’re (Scotland) not short of good operators in their back-row that’s for sure. It’ll be a good match-up.”
Two experienced Lions tourists who have been leading England forward throughout the Six Nations, is a pair of Earl’s teammates from his Saracens club side. Plenty of plaudits have been bestowed to Maro Itoje and Jamie George this past week, with the two forwards starring in the triumphant second half fight, that secured the win over France. Itoje has continued to thrive as a leader of men, as has George, even after losing his captaincy to his fellow StoneX stalwart.
“Maro is an amazing speaker, he is an amazing standard setter, he is an amazing player, an amazing leader. Uses a number of different tools, in getting us up for the game, not that we needed it. Playing at home in front of our own fans in a big game like that was huge for us.
“I’d say his jump to being England captain has been seamless because of how good a leader he has been for so long. He hasn’t changed, if anything it has brought the best out of him.”
“(Jamie George is) Amazing. Truly inspirational in terms of, just some of the hardship he’s had over the last however long. And throw in not being in at the beginning of the campaign, and how tricky that must have been for him, I thought his performance on the weekend was nigh-on game-changing, some of the experience and the quality – he just oozes class doesn’t he.
“He’s done that ever since he’s come in. So, so pleased for him, so pleased for his family, and hopefully he continues to be an idol, I’d go so far to say, for myself and others, in how to carry yourself around a group and how to lead. Because you take a role away from someone like that, it doesn’t change who they are, they still lead, they still have so much knowledge to give, and it doesn’t change how he is. It’s inspirational.”
The post “Not a record we want” – England back row Ben Earl vying to end Scotland’s Calcutta Cup streak appeared first on Ruck.
