'So out of my depth it was a joke': Borthwick experiment appears over

England back-row Ben Earl has distanced himself from a potential move into the centres, saying “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”

England head coach Steve Borthwick has flirted with the idea of playing the British and Irish Lion in the midfield, frequently closing out matches with the Saracen in the back line.

Ahead of the Quilter Nations Series, Borthwick even hinted he may start the 28-year-old at centre. While that did not come to fruition in November, he did finish the victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium as a midfielder.

Borthwick said that such a move would require a buy-in from Saracens as well in order for Earl to get regular game time in his new position.

“Ben would be very effective there,” Borthwick said. “Is it something you’d want him to experience at club level? Ideally.

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“In a situation like that, ideally the player would do it at club level first. That’s Saracens’ business not mine, but I have no hesitation starting him in a Test at 12 because he’s got that ability.

“Maybe, maybe not it will happen this autumn. It’s certainly a factor I’m considering. He’s spent so much time training with the backs and you can see his skillset and his pace.”

However, it doesn’t look like Earl will be playing at inside or outside centre any time soon for Saracens.

Joining Ben Youngs’ and Dan Cole’s For the Love of Rugby podcast recently, alongside Owen Farrell, Earl confessed that the defensive side of the game is the major roadblock in a potential move into the back line.

Furthermore, an unsuccessful attempt to move during pre-season may have extinguished any desire Earl may have had.

“I had a longer stint with England and I remember a defensive scrum against Wales and I was like to Fordy [George Ford] ‘I don’t have a clue what I’m doing here.’ He was like ‘if anyone runs at you, tackle him. If not, swim off,'” Earl said.

“Defensively, it’s very different, certainly at set-piece. We also did some bits in pre-season when a load of us couldn’t play and I saw it as an opportunity to put myself in at centre. Honestly, I was so out of my depth it was a joke. I think [Owen Farrell] came up to me and said, ‘You’ll never be training at centre again,’ and I thought ‘Yeah, completely fair.’”