1
'Brings edge': Jeff Wilson's pick for a new All Blacks captain
38
{{item.n}}
What Ben Earl 'actually thought' about England's Roman horror-day
By PA
Ben Earl has defended England’s performance in their historic first loss to Italy amid mounting pressure on head coach Steve Borthwick.
England are facing the prospect of their worst finish in the Guinness Six Nations after conceding 13 unanswered points at the Stadio Olimpico to crash to a 23-18 defeat.
Their third successive collapse was met with a statement of support for Borthwick from the Rugby Football Union, although the backing extends only as far as this year’s Nations Championship and not the 2027 World Cup when his contract ends.
VIDEO
Earl, Borthwick’s most impressive contributor for much of the last three years, believes there was plenty to admire in Rome.
“There’s an element of pride really because I actually thought we played pretty well,” said the Saracens number eight, who won his 50th cap on Saturday.
“There was a moment in that game I thought there was only one team that was going to win.
“If that game ended at 60 minutes you’d say that was an unbelievable performance by England, but unfortunately the result didn’t go our way.
“It was honestly one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played for 60 minutes. Because we had two good teams throwing punch after punch, tactical nous versus tactical nous, and we were on top.
“Excuse my French but there’s going to be a s*** ton of noise, whatever, but Italy are a very good team. They’re going to go and beat some good teams.
“That doesn’t mean that we can’t improve and we can’t beat them, but I thought there were large parts of that performance that were brilliant.
“It was a performance where we brought the gameplan to life and Italy won a couple of moments in the last 20 minutes to win the game. That’s Test match rugby. That’s another lesson for us.
“Of course at some point you say ‘how many lessons can you take?’. But, again, I keep saying I’d rather learn these lessons now than in Brisbane at the 2027 World Cup.”
Former internationals Austin Healey and Andy Goode have called for Borthwick to be sacked but Earl believes the players should be held responsible for the recent slump.
“Just have a think about what this team’s achieved since Steve took over. We’ve gone third in the World Cup,” he said.
“We’ve won 12 out of 15 games, but had won 12 on the bounce. We’ve beaten the All Blacks for the first time in Twickenham since 2012.
“The noise is actually bonkers, I think it’s crazy. If anyone is letting Steve down, it’s us, the group.
“And we need to play better at certain moments because we’re playing well for 50 minutes, playing well for 40 minutes, playing well for 30 minutes. We’ve just got to put it together – and we will.”
Create your ticketing account and unlock presale access for Rugby World Cup 2027 now!
