'Emotional' Ben Earl hits back at press in post-match interview

Ben Earl has fired back at England’s critics following his player of the match in his side’s 23-22 win over Ireland in round four of the Guinness Six Nations.

Off the back of a Calcutta Cup loss to Scotland in round three, Earl had a message for those who labelled Steve Borthwick’s side as the “worst England team ever,” venting his spleen by saying people can write what they want.

The Saracen put in another barnstorming display at the back of the scrum for England, and was left “emotional” in his post-match interview with ITV given everything that has happened to his side over the past few weeks.

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“I’m a bit emotional,” he said. “Because obviously Jamie [George] lost his mum the other week and we spoke a lot about that this week. And then Danny’s 100th and some of the crap that’s been thrown at this team over the last week. Apparently, we’re the worst England team ever, we’ve done pretty well for that accolade.”

The victory was comfortably England’s best performance under Borthwick, but Earl stressed that his teammates train like that every day, which “people don’t see”. While they bore the fruit of their work in the background, the 26-year-old said that the performance against arguably the best team in the world was “where we can take this team”.

“We knew from the beginning of the game that if we played our best stuff, we’d have a chance. Everything came together today, we’re very fortunate- amazing stadium, amazing fans, amazing teammates, I’m so pleased.

“We’ve been training like that every day. And we all know that sometimes it doesn’t translate onto the pitch but people don’t see half the stuff we do. They can write what they want, but I’m so pleased because that’s where we can take this team and there were parts of that game that we can really improve on so really pleased.”

On a personal level, Earl reflected on his own try-scoring performance, saying: “I’m working hard, we’re all working hard. Playing the best teams in the world always brings the best out of you so credit to Ireland, credit to our boys, credit to the fans, what a great day.”

Watch the interview:

🗣️ ‘I’m a bit emotional because… Jamie lost his mum the other week, Danny’s 100th appearance, apparently we’re the worst England team ever. We’ve done pretty well for that accolade’

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ben Earl after England’s win over Ireland pic.twitter.com/K4jeZxJ2MI

— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 9, 2024