Earl puts injury time to good use with life as gym monkey
IT MIGHT not have felt like it at the time but Ben Earl reckons the knee injury that saw him miss the end of the Six Nations is the ‘best thing that ever happened to him' as he prepares to help England U20s defend their Junior World Cup crown in Georgia.
The Saracens openside captained the team in their opening two wins against France and Wales but a knee injury ruled him out of the rest of the tournament as England clinched the Grand Slam.
So with nine weeks on the sidelines, Earl decided to make the best of his time off and his hard work was rewarded by a Premiership debut against Bristol in the penultimate round of the season.
Now fitter and stronger than ever, Earl is looking to pick up where he left off at the JWC in England's opener against Samoa.
“The injury is probably the best thing that happened to me,” he told The Rugby Paper. “It gave me a really good chance to refresh and work on some things I couldn't do at the start of the season because I had played a lot of rugby.
“I played for Ampthill in National League One before Christmas so rather than feel sorry for myself I thought I'd turn it into a positive and work hard in the gym.
“We sat down with the coaches and we thought I could do with my upper body being stronger. It's not just about raw strength in senior rugby and you need that robustness to go into breakdowns and be effective.
But it's hard to do that when you come in on Mondays and your body is aching from the weekend.
“Kelly Brown has been mentoring me and I've also spent a lot of time with Will Fraser who's been injured. It's great to see what these players do and I'd be silly not to pick their brains.
“Making my Premiership debut was brilliant and it spurred me on and I returned to the U20s squad flying high on confidence.
“I don't know if I'll be given the captaincy or if Zach Mercer will carry on but it doesn't matter. We have a few leaders with Max Malins and Theo Brophy-Clews in the backs too. We'll all have a role to play and we'll all be needed if we want to be successful.”
England will kick off their campaign against Samoa in Tbilisi with a big target on their back as the reigning champions and Grand Slam winners.
Wales and Australia will follow, and with only four days between games, Earl is looking for a full squad effort, especially as they will be without Nick Isiekwe, brothers Ben and Tom Curry, Jack Maunder and Joe Cokanasiga who have all been called up to tour Argentina with the senior squad. Leicester flanker Will Evans pulled out this week because of injury.
Earl added: “We're buzzing for what's to come.
If you want to win the JWC you've got to beat the best team in the world and it'll start in the pools for us.
“Each of Samoa, Australia and Wales will offer a different challenge. If their senior team is anything to go buy, it'll be a hell of a match against Samoa.
Wales will want to prove a point after losing to us narrowly in the Six Nations and Australia are a proud rugby nation. It's going to be three great games.
“We've got some good momentum on the back of the Grand Slam but we've got a few players missing.
It's a different squad so we'll have to do things differently.
“The whole squad will be used because of the quick turnaround between games. It's not going to be the same XV always playing, so it's crucial we bond quickly and get on the same page.”
ENGLAND SQUAD
FORWARDS: Ralph Adams-Hale (Saracens), Josh Bayliss (Bath), Jamie Blamire (Newcastle), Josh Caulfield (Exeter), Justin Clegg (Worcester), Max Davies (Newcastle), Ollie Dawe (Bristol), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ciaran Knight (Gloucester), Dino Lamb (Harlequins), Zach Mercer (Bath), Joe Mullis (Gloucester), Jack Nay (Saracens), Alex Seville (Gloucester), Marcus Street (Exeter), Henry Walker (Gloucester)
BACKS: Sam Aspland-Robinson (Harlequins), Theo Brophy Clews (London Irish), Will Butler (Worcester), Ali Crossdale (Saracens), Gabriel Ibitoye (Harlequins), Max Malins (Saracens), Alex Mitchell (Northampton), Dominic Morris (Saracens), Tom Parton (London Irish), Harry Randall (Gloucester), Jacob Umaga (Wasps), Max Wright (Yorkshire Carnegie)
