England back row Ben Earl spoke passionately after his side’s win over Ireland, following an unforgettable game in round four of the Six Nations. Earl hit out at the social media critics, who he said had branded Steve Borthwick’s side as ‘the worst England team ever’.
“Unbelievable, really. I’m a bit emotional,” player of the match Earl said. “Some of the crap that has been thrown at the team over this last week, apparently, we are the worst England team ever. We have done pretty well for that accolade.
“We knew from the beginning of the game that if we played our best stuff, we would have a chance. Amazing stadium, amazing fans, amazing team-mates. Credit to the fans. What a great day! We train like that every day. We all know sometimes that doesn’t translate onto the pitch but people don’t see half the stuff we do. I’m just so pleased.”
The post-match interview instantly generated a buzz around the online rugby landscape, and has since been spoken about by a former England captain. Dylan Hartley believes that Earl’s statements came from a place of hurt, and he remembered when his England side were at their lowest following the 2015 Rugby World Cup pool stage exit. Speaking to InstantCasinos.com, Hartley said;
“We were knocked out of a home World Cup when I played in 2015. We were then the worst! But that spurred us on. We went on to win 18 games in a row. As a captain and a player you are always looking for things that can motivate the team and control the narrative.
“The physical and mental commitment players put in during a week is huge. Then if it goes wrong during the 80 minutes of a match people say you are not good enough. It does hurt.”
Looking at the current England battlers, Hartley has been throughly impressed by two versatile forwards that he calls ‘Test Match animals’. The former Northampton man has been blown away by the relentless efforts of George Martin and Ollie Chessum, who were both thunderous against Ireland.
“It bodes well for the future. They have not got heaps of experience but they look like Test match animals. You don’t need extravagant skills from your second rows. You want the basics, bread and butter line-out, grunt and oomph.
“They epitomised everything an England forward should be, especially from Leicester. They are the business. This is where we need to be. This is when England are strong when you have those sorts of athletes on the field. Having a second row at six as we did with Courtney Lawes brought out the best in everyone and was a really great balance.”
“Maro has almost built a rod for his own back. For years he was world class every game 10/10. The one minute he dips down to a 7/10 people are saying, ‘Where’s Maro gone?’ Martin and Chessum playing like men possessed freed Maro up to do what he does incredibly well and create havoc.”
There was plenty of pressure on Steve Borthwick ahead of the Ireland match, yet Hartley now believes that the milestone win has alleviated some of the strain from the head coach’s shoulders. Hartley called the performance ‘unbelievable’, and he thought the head coach’s half-time alteration with Ireland boss Andy Farrell showed the intensity of the Six Nations.
“It was a stellar performance and just huge for England. I know to a man they would have sat beforehand and said to each other, ‘Let’s rock the applecart and show what we can do. ‘
“It shows when the stick passes and intensity is matched from 1-23 what can be done. It was unbelievable. It was refreshing to see as a supporter. It had everything. Ireland were good as well. England put them under pressure but equally Ireland exposed them at times.
“It could have gone the other way and headlines like: ‘Valiant England’ and ‘So Near and Yet So Far’ and ‘The Clock is Ticking for Borthwick.’
“Officials review things throughout the game. They would have reviewed that incident (problematic Ellis Genge clear-out) in game. The powers that be do not cover things up. They would have looked at it from all angles and ruled that there was nothing wrong with it. The intent is fine. You are allowed to smack people who hang around rucks like that. He didn’t hit his head, didn’t do anything bad.
“I liked the fact that the coaches were remonstrating with each other. Normally they are stuck up in the stand in their glass boxed. I would love to see coaches pit side just like football, talking to players before they go on and things like that. If they had their own boxes at ground level near the touchline it would add to the game.”
Hartley then discussed the global ramifications that the win has had, as Ireland must now showcase their qualities to regain their status amongst the elite rugby nations. England are poised for a Summer of test matches against New Zealand and Japan, with Hartley delighted with the message sent to the All Blacks and Brave Blossoms.
“England’s victory was a gentle reminder to France and the All Blacks and Japan that they can win big games. But they need to back it up this weekend. If they can beat Ireland and France on successive weekends that is the sign of a really strong team
“Ireland are dealing with it from the opposite perspective – everyone is raising their game against them. The true test now is to back up the win with a performance of similar intensity and tactical nous and skill levels.
“If we end up 3/5 that’s better than it has been. 4/5 will be outstanding because how you finish a season is important. We wouldn’t have wanted to have snuck in one great win with two other wins against Italy and Wales. The team will want to finish on a high and go back to their clubs and then head off to Japan and New Zealand this summer and continue building.”
Turning his attention to this weekend’s opponents, Hartley backs his former side against France. The retired front rower believes that Fabien Galthie’s men are still suffering from a World Cup ‘hangover’, despite running out the 24-45 win against Wales. Hartley eyes up France’s inconsistency due to their home soil defeat from last year, in a trait that he believes can be seen across the world.
“France have stuttered through this tournament and have an emotional hangover from the World Cup. They have not been able to bounce back as the Irish have. Dupont is talismanic but he’s not available. Who knows what will happen this weekend, but England now know what it takes to win big games. I have no doubt they will be motivated by finishing on a high.
“It’s been happening over the past few years or so. South Africa have done really well at the World Cups. Australia have dipped but will be back and snarling. And New Zealand can still deliver. But the best teams in Europe can match them now on a regular basis.”
Rounding off the interview, Hartley took a wider schematic view at the Six Nations Championship. The 2016 Grand Slam winning captain does not see the tournament introducing a promotion-relegation system any time soon, despite the constant growth of the Rugby Europe Championship.
“The best coaches are moving around. Coaching, tactics and strength and conditioning are all pretty similar. So there are fine margins at the top. The gap has closed. And you have the so-called Tier Two nations flexing their muscles; Georgia, Fiji, Samoa, Romania, even Portugal. The game is highly competitive now across the world. You can’t predict what is going to happen.
“It doesn’t matter what I think, it is never going to happen. The stakeholders have too much invested in it. There is a responsibility to develop the game in Europe and there has got to be a way to make it work because there is a whole fan base and rugby playing demographic we are not tapping in to. World Rugby has to develop the competitions.”