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No.8 Ben Earl makes concession to England fans after latest loss

By PA
Ben Earl - PA

England No.8 Ben Earl admits to experiencing the “same overwhelming feeling” after his side’s latest heartbreaking 42-37 near miss against Australia at Allianz Stadium.

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England are determined, however, to make amends after their autumn blues continued with a dramatic defeat by Australia at

World champions South Africa are the daunting assignment facing Steve Borthwick’s men next Saturday as they look to regroup following defeats by New Zealand and the Wallabies, with Japan visiting Twickenham a week later to close the schedule.

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The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

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The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

A run of five defeats in six matches has been characterised by the squandering of winning positions with the Saturday’s overtime loss to Australia the most dramatic example yet.

“We’re testing fans’ patience, testing our patience. It feels like we won the game twice against Australia and then managed to lose it. Frustrating,” No.8 Ben Earl said.

“Not same old problems, different problems, but the same overwhelming feeling of another game that we’ve let slip. So food for thought.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s a lack of effort, it really doesn’t. It just feels like every game is just throwing up a different scenario that we might not have experienced before as a team.

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“We’ll have to go through some more hurt to find our way through it and maybe, hopefully, look back over the next couple of weeks and months and years, and say that was a really important lesson.

“This team’s always been brilliant at responding when questions have been asked of us and our character. And we need to respond.

“We want to win for our fans. We want to win for ourselves because it’s bit of a tedious feeling coming into the sheds for a second time in consecutive weeks and feeling like it’s another game that was there to win.”

Feyi-Waboso suffered a head injury while trying to prevent Australia from scoring a try in the 50th minute of the 42-37 defeat and has been withdrawn from the 36-man squad that will prepare for the Springboks’ visit to south west London.

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The second loss of England’s Autumn Nations campaign has taken a heavy toll, with Tom Curry already confirmed as unavailable after he was knocked out in the act of making a tackle against the Wallabies.

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Comments

5 Comments
B
Bull Shark 20 days ago

It is clear that England are going to have to work on their defending. As in defending against tough questions from the media.


Ben Earl recently discovered that if you pull a really sad, puppy dog face when the final whistle goes, you can disarm the ugly English journalists.


So far it's working.


☹️

D
DJ 20 days ago

So when Ben says “We’ll have to go through some more hurt to find our way through it and maybe, hopefully, look back over the next couple of weeks and months and years, and say that was a really important lesson", does he mean that he/we/England will have to suffer more hurt for the next couple of years or that they have to look back at the past couple of years (of hurt & learnings) to MAYBE HOPEFULLY see what has gone wrong (& why it CERTAINLY hasn't been fixed) or MAYBE even both the past & present? #confused

A
AF 20 days ago

Respect the honesty. I love that Earl gives his all and plays with so much heart.


I appreciate that these players are under immense pressure. It seems they're gonna need to just learn how to handle it. If what James George said is true that they took their foot off the gas then I think there are psychological issues too.

A
Ardy 20 days ago

AF, I thought he was one of the fwds who went missing and I was shocked after his game against the AB's. Valetini had it all over him. Still thought Marcus Smith was MOTM.

B
Bob Salad II 20 days ago

Must be easy reporting on England atm. You can basically just copy and paste the apologies from the previous week.

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Mzilikazi 5 hours ago
'Welsh regional rugby has failed conclusively and there is no way back'

Thanks for the very comprehensive response, Rob. I have held off responding till I had seen the match v the WB's, and had a better look at Sam. I was interested that you knew him at Uni, played with him.


I thought overall he had a very good game. Was especially impressed by his passing, the timing and accuracy. Very good long passer. He kicks well out of hand, and strikes the ball well off the tee. His one miss could have been costly, but I would not put too much on that.


I did feel he did not pose a running threat, did to carry into contact enough, so the WB's defence was spared that worry.


I fully agree with you that Cullen now needs to give Sam and extended run at 10 for Leinster, not necessarily starting him in every game, but making sure he always gets significant game time, week in, week out.


I'm interested in your comment "if he had a bit more pace he’d have the potential to have sextons brains and bods skills." That would be some combination !


I also had a look at his background. I knew he was a Newbridge College lad, and see he played for them in the Cup Campaign that was never finished due to Covid restrictions. I remember that year well....pity as that was an all Kildare Final, with Clongowes the opponent. The big Dublin schools for once not featuring.


Same happened up in Ulster, two schools outside Belfast in the Final...Wallace and Armagh Royal. I follow Armagh from out here in Qld, as Kenny Hooks(6 caps for Ireland) had built a small school up to being one of the best in Ulster over 40 plus years coaching there. I coached Kenny for five years...Medallion/U 15 and first XV.. at Bangor GS.


Signing off, just hope and pray Sam Prendergast remains free of any serious injury, and we see him develop over the next 10 plus years.

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