Ben Earl acknowledges that the public does not consider England’s players to be of the highest calibre, but he thinks they can change that by defeating Fiji and advancing to the Rugby World Cup semifinals.
Earl, who will earn his 23rd cap on Sunday afternoon (Monday NZT) at Stade de Marseille at No. 8, acknowledged he is unsure if he qualifies as a “big-game player.”
The 25-year-old, who has distinguished himself in England’s tournament thus far, thinks a matchup with Fiji, which will include Levani Botia and the “unbelievable” Semi Radradradra, a former Bristol Bears teammate, will be instructive. This is due to Earl’s inability to confirm that he performs best under pressure.
With commendable openness, he said, “I don’t know yet, because I haven’t played really, really big games like this a huge amount.”
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“This is the largest it will get. I have not really given it much thought, but we lose and we go home on Monday. But that’s the reality of our current situation.
“You have to start showing up to games like this if you want to be considered one of the best players in the world, and I want to be considered that. I guess Sunday (Monday NZT) will tell us.
Last season, Earl witnessed firsthand what he called a Botia “clinic” when Saracens were eliminated from the Champions Cup at the quarterfinal stage, falling 24-10 to La Rochelle in a match that featured a number of the Fijian player’s signature mistakes.
It is reasonable to argue that Josua Tuisova and Waisea Nayacalevu, two more Fijian internationals, together with Botia, are more of a contemporary “World XV” than any player on Steve Borthwick’s team.
In that regard, Earl sees this weekend as a chance for him and his teammates, some of whom had previously been given more consideration for the “World XV,” particularly during England’s journey to the championship game four years ago.
He remarked, “You see a lot of stuff about World XVs and stuff on social media and there’s probably not a huge amount of representation from England in that regard.”
Many people don’t believe that there are actually that many of us in there. Thus, these are the chances. These are the phases in which we would like to participate.
You learn a great deal about yourself as well as your teammates. With the way we’ve been practising and preparing over the past two weeks, I think it’s reasonable to say that we expect great performances.
“A large number of our team members have held those roles in the past and are aware of what it takes,” Earl continued. Spending a lot of time with players that participated in the 2019 New Zealand game and emerged, like as Courtney Lawes, Manu Tuilagi, and George Ford, as well as Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Jamie George, and others at my club, will only help me grow as a person. I’m just enjoying myself by depending as much as I can on those men.
“[World XV selection] is merely a personal choice. However, we are also aware of our team’s talent and the fact that, with certain individuals on the roster, we can transform into an extremely formidable opponent on any given day.
On Sunday, it’s kind of now or never. On Monday morning, nobody wants to be taking a flight back to London. Thus, we’re going to put in our best effort there and watch what transpires.
Even though England will need to work together to overcome Botia, Earl—a player who made it through the roster that was defeated by Fiji in August—did not downplay the importance of the back-row battle.
Alongside Earl in the starting back row for England are Tom Curry and Lawes, with Billy Vunipola on the bench. Lekima Tagitagivalu and Viliame Mata will be with Botia, who did not play for Fiji in August.
Earl stated, “I believe the back row as a whole will probably go a long way to deciding this.” “My goal is to do well. I’m concentrating on making the back row as silent as possible. I suppose if we all stay quiet, we can try to determine which way the game will go—myself, Courtney, Tom, and Billy when he comes on.
Earl called the tournament a “dream” thus far and is ready for a “awesome” environment akin to the one experienced during the pool win over Argentina at the same location.
The winners of the third quarterfinal will play South Africa or France in the semifinal in Paris on Sunday, New Zealand time. Earl thinks all bets will be off if they make it to the final four. He asserts that England is not concerned about being the underdog for the championship.
To be honest, we don’t really care,” Earl continued. In the quarterfinals, we are. They are free to observe us and take any action they like, but we have a game on Sunday. If we win, we advance to the semifinals, where the outcome is up to anyone.
“On Sunday, we’ll try to take care of business before we head to Paris.”
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