‘There is no animosity,' says England's Ben Earl of his Lions teammates despite fiery Six Nations
Ben Earl is in
Ireland
, along with his
Lions
teammates, following a training camp in
Portugal
where golf and bonding was as much to the fore as putting in the hard yards.
The flanker has played 26 games this season for Saracens and England, but the Algarve warmth and the changed vibe has whetted his appetite for more.
It is the first time he has been in a Lions camp. Ten years ago, he couldn't have imagined it was possible. Earl's first step towards becoming a professional rugby player was during a cricket trip to Yorkshire more than a decade ago.
A talented teenager across sports, he played cricket with the England schools team and was an underage player at Kent.
READ MORE
As the England backrow tells it, the team travelled north and he went into bat but was out 'pretty soon'. He spent the next two days fielding, during which time the realisation hit him that maybe rugby was a better option.
Now 27, he has more than 40 Test rugby internationals with England under his belt. But before all of that, he rubbed shoulders with current cricket professionals such as England top order batsman Zak Crawley and Sam Curran. He also came into the orbit of Ollie Pope, the current vice-captain of the England team.
'I don't think I'd have been as good at cricket as I am at this sport but yeah, there was a decision to be made at some point,' says Earl.
'So, rugby, the training's hard but you're not put through the mill in terms of mental stuff and some of the stuff those guys have to go through – travelling and whatnot.
'I've not really looked back. I loved my cricket and I love my golf, but rugby is my true calling and I'm glad it worked out.
Ben Earl and his Lions teammates are preparing for Friday's match against Argentina in Dublin. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
'Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ollie Pope, those are guys I had the privilege of playing with and against . . . English schools, Kent County stuff but now I just enjoy playing golf against those guys.'
Earl doesn't want to talk about preferred numbers on his back. He is happy to let Lions coach Andy Farrell select him anywhere across the backrow.
Nor does he carry animosity from an often-fiery Six Nations, despite the main rivals for his positions coming from Wales and Ireland as well as his teammate Tom Curry.
The Lions' first game, against Argentina on Friday, will give some indication of how Farrell is thinking, although it's early days yet. There are six matches to play before the first Test match against Australia in Brisbane on July 19th.
'If there's any animosity, I haven't felt it,' says Earl. 'In terms of mutual respect, my respect is unlimited for some of the guys that I'm going to have the privilege to play alongside and to compete with for spots.
He namechecks Jac Morgan, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Curry and Henry Pollock, and says of them: 'People I have a huge amount of respect for, some who I know extremely well, some who I know not very well at all. My respect for them has no limit. Animosity, no; respect, yes.'
For Earl and others, it is almost like stepping into an Irish camp with Farrell,
Johnny Sexton
, John Fogarty, Simon Easterby and Andrew Goodman flavouring the landscape.
While England coach Steve Borthwick comes across in public as a more intense figure than Farrell, Earl sees similarities between the two. The common denominator is that they both demand high-level performances.
'Both do things slightly differently, but I don't think there is any right or wrong way,' he says. 'It's however you get the best out of the group. There's many ways to skin a cat in this regard.
'Obviously rugby is rugby, so everyone has similar principles. It's more just like wording and a different way of looking at things and that's probably been the most exciting thing for me. I'm now going into my 10th season of professional rugby and some of the stuff I've learnt over the past seven or eight days has been awesome.
'I probably haven't learned as much in such a short space of time for a very long time, so it's been great – rubbing shoulders with people that I've looked up to for a very long time. It's been awesome.'
Leicester's Ollie Chessum and Bath's Finn Russell, who played in the Premiership final, as well as all of the
Leinster players involved in Saturday's URC final
, joined up with the Lions squad in Dublin on Monday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
39 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
England's Jack van Poortvliet called into Lions setup as scrum-half cover
Leicester and England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet has been called into the British and Irish Lions camp as cover. Van Poortvliet has been called in by Andy Farrell with Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park suffering from a 'minor glute strain', with the head coach keen to have a third fully-fit nine alongside Alex Mitchell and Tomos Williams. Van Poortvliet will now fly into Dublin to train with the Lions as they prepare for the 1888 Cup fixture against Argentina on Friday. On Monday, the 24-year-old was named in Steve Borthwick's 36-player training squad ahead of England's match against a France XV on Saturday. He made his England debut against Australia in Perth in 2022 and has since won 15 caps for his country.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
How will eliminated teams reflect on 2025 Sam Maguire exit?
Group 1: Mayo (1 win, 2 losses) Heading into the final round, all four teams were all locked together on two points each, as Mayo headed for Hyde Park to take on Donegal. A draw would have sufficed but Ciarán Moore's score at the hooter signalled defeat for Mayo to keep them on two points alongside Cavan, who lost to Tyrone. Cavan had Mayo on the head-to-head, meaning the Green and Red bow out. Similar to last year, Mayo are the victims of fine margins. A direct route to the quarter-finals was within their grasp in 2024, but conceding a late equaliser to Dublin sent them down the preliminary road where they lost to Derry after extra-time and penalties. In 2025, it's the shock defeat to Cavan in the All-Ireland series opener that will rankle most with Mayo as another campaign ends in misery. The scoreline read 1-17 to 1-14 in favour of Cavan but the gap was at eight points heading into stoppage time. Manager Kevin McStay stepped down due to 'personal health issues' in the wake of that defeat with Stephen Rochford stepping up in a testing time for the county. A league final defeat to Kerry followed by a losing a second consecutive Connacht final to Galway are other disappointments for Mayo to ponder, losing by six points and two points respectively. Advertisement Group 3: Clare (3 losses) The Clare team before their All-Ireland series clash with Louth. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO Since its inception in 2023, Clare have competed in all three editions of the All-Ireland group series on account of reaching the Munster final. But each season has also ended in elimination on zero points, as they have suffered nine consecutive losses. They rallied from eight points down at half-time against Louth but were still three points short despite Eoin Cleary and Mark McInerney combining for 1-8. Along with this performance, the closest Clare came to a wining an All-Ireland series tie was a two-point defeat in last year's opener against Cork. Clare ran Kerry to seven points in last year's Munster final but failed to build on that spirited display this summer, losing out to the Kingdom by 4-20 to 0-21 last month. This year's league ended in disappointment for Clare too. They won five of their seven league games but missed out on promotion from Division 3 due to inferior scoring difference against Kildare and Offaly. Looking to 2026, the Munster championship could become even more challenging for the Banner as the provincial council prepares to vote on seeding Cork and Kerry for next year's competition. 'I think would be a terrible move for football in the province,' Clare manager Peter Keane said after the Louth defeat. 'If you block it out altogether it's no good for anyone.' Group 4: Derry (1 draw, 2 losses) Derry lost out in the 'Group of Death.' They looked to be on course for survival at half-time against Dublin on Saturday as the sides were level while Galway trailed Armagh by eight points. But despite Shane McGuigan's impressive tally of 0-10 — including three two-point frees — Derry bow out. It marks the end of a disappointing first season under Paddy Tally in which they failed to win a game in either league or championship. They earned two draws, both of which were against Galway in the league and All-Ireland series. Derry rallied from nine points down for a draw in the first game and let an eight-point lead slip in the second. Division 1 champions last year, and back-to-back Ulster winners in 2022 and 2023, Derry have regressed. However, Tally was only appointed as manager last November, leaving little time to prepare adequately. The squad has also been hampered by injuries with Lachlan Murray, Niall Loughlin, Ciaran McFaul and Odhran Lynch among those on the treatment table. They also lost Chrissy McKaigue to retirement last year. 'We were so far off it and that's just the fact that the lads hadn't got a proper pre-season done and were basically straight into competition,' Tally said after the Dublin game, before adding that they used their after the Ulster championship to improve their conditioning. 'You can see now when they're starting to come into decent shape.' Group 2: Roscommon (1 draw, 2 losses) Roscommon's Ciaráin Murtagh. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Roscommon's season came down to a half block from Daniel O'Mahony on Diarmuid Murtagh's late two-point effort. Daire Cregg was also denied a goal earlier in the second half as Cork goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin saved at a crucial stage. A draw would have been enough for a Roscommon team who lost year's All-Ireland quarter-final to eventual champions Armagh. Instead they fell to Cork, who also dumped Roscommon out of the 2023 championship at the preliminary quarter-final stage. Related Reads Dublin seven-time All-Ireland winner transfers to Meath side Dunboyne More Mayo heartbreak - 'They'll rue that loss to Cavan. That one is going to hurt for a long time' 'The most logical venue' - CCCC chief responds to McGuinness criticism Experienced forward Ciaráin Murtagh returned to the Roscommon squad for 2025 just days after the addition of Mark Doran who was a candidate for the Derry job. Promotion to Division 1 followed but their season slowly unraveled. They lost the league final to Monaghan after a poor third quarter, resulting in a 10-point loss. Since their league win over Cork in March, Roscommon only won once in eight matches, that was in their Connacht tie against London. That was followed by a sluggish nine-point defeat against Galway in the Connacht semi-final. They made an encouraging start against Kerry in the All-Ireland series opener, but conceded 2-3 in six second-half minutes to lose out by 10 points. A thrilling draw against Meath offered a spark but the Cork defeat quenched the flame. After three years in charge, Burke has declined to comment on his future as Roscommon manager but did point to the development of players like Daire Cregg and Conor Carroll under his watch. Enda Smith also won an All-Star during his tenure in 2023.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Furlong in the frame as Lions gear up for Argentina challenge
SOME PEOPLE HAVE found it hard to imagine Tadhg Furlong making the Lions Test series in Australia. Andy Farrell doesn't appear to have been among them. It's not that Furlong's quality as a player has been in doubt. It's just that some supporters worry that the 32-year-old's body will let him down. The Leinster and Ireland tighthead prop has had a frustrating season so far, with calf and hamstring injuries limiting him to just 373 minutes of game time for province and country. He managed only one appearance for Ireland and eight for Leinster. Furlong hasn't played since 17 May, missing Leinster's run-in to the URC title, but he now appears to be in the frame for the Lions as they prepare to face Argentina on Friday night in Dublin. Furlong trained with the Lions in the sun at UCD yesterday and the fact that 20-year-old tighthead Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who was in as cover for the past week, has left the Lions group is clearly a positive sign about the Lions' confidence in Furlong's fitness. Indeed, word is that Furlong was close to making a return for Leinster, having resumed training with the province. In the end, they opted to continue with Thomas Clarkson and Rabah Slimani as their tightheads for the URC final against the Bulls. So the Wexford man's latest comeback will instead take place in a red jersey. He joins Irish team-mate Finlay Bealham and England's Will Stuart as the tighthead options in Farrell's Lions squad. Bealham has impressed for Ireland in Furlong's absences over the last few seasons, while Stuart brings good form into Lions camp, but neither of them have Furlong's pedigree. The Leinster man started all six of the Lions Tests on the last two tours and Farrell would love to have him fully firing by the time the Wallabies clashes roll around. Advertisement Hugo Keenan and James Ryan at training yesterday. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO There is also a positive sense around Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan, the other two Leinster Lions who missed the URC final with injury, meaning Farrell has not needed to call up additional players this week. With Opoku-Fordjour and Jamie George having now left Lions camp after filling in for the past week, Farrell is working with just his main 38-man squad. Bealham has replaced the injured Zander Fagerson for the tour, but the Lions boss must be relieved and even a bit surprised that others weren't cut down by injury since he named his touring group. It had been expected that Farrell would bring in a few extra bodies this week beyond that 38, but it hasn't proven to be the case. The fun really begins on Friday night with the first warm-up clash with the Pumas, four weeks before the first Test against the Wallabies. Farrell will be looking for a fast start given how few chances there are for players to state their case before the Test series. He pushed the 22 squad members who were in camp at Quinta do Lago last week very hard indeed, culminating in a training match against Portugal followed by a big squad night out. 'The only rule is there are no rules,' Farrell told his players before they let their hair down. He demanded lots of them in the days prior, with a huge amount of learning off the pitch and high-tempo sessions on it. England back row Ben Earl said it was 'probably the highest standard of training I've ever been involved in.' And now, the Lions have added 12 players from URC champions Leinster, two from Premiership champions Bath, and another from English finalists Leicester to get that quality even higher. The big group of Irish players know Farrell's coaching style well, of course, but the players he's working with for the first time have been impressed. Lions captain Maro Itoje speaks to the squad. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO 'He's someone that I'd really looked up to, someone that is, I'd go as far as to say, a legend of the Lions for some of the coaching stuff he's done,' said Earl. 'Just already, the knowledge he's imparted to us in terms of what he wants from us is amazing. 'I'd heard how good a coach he was, how good he is in terms of getting the environment and the tone of the week right, so all the stuff I'd heard about how good he was have borne fruits, I guess. 'I've seen that in person for the first time and really impressed by him and looking forward to working with him.' With a full squad on board, the Lions players will be designated touring duties as part of things like the social committee, fines committee, and so on. Having played Argentina on Friday, the Lions will leave for Australia in two big batches on Saturday. One party will fly direct from London to Perth, while the others will have a stopover en route. Their first game Down Under is against the Western Force in Perth on 28 June, giving them time to acclimatise. From then on, it'll be a whirlwind of games nearly every three days. This week in the Dublin sun is the calm before the storm.
