'Whatever the boss tells me to do, I'll do. I'll play on the wing if he wants me to'
Charlie Ewels might be considered unfortunate to have been born during an era where England boast an abundance of top second-row talent, but the Bath forward views it as a blessing rather than a curse.
Eddie Jones took the unprecedented step of naming five locks in his 23 for the recent rout of Ireland at Twickenham with Courtney Lawes operating at blindside flanker and Ewels and Joe Launchbury present on the bench.
Had he been playing at a different time, Ewels might have accumulated more than 14 caps as a regular starter in the positions currently occupied by Maro Itoje and George Kruis.
But the 24-year-old credits the competition for elevating his game to a new level.
“I don’t think I’d be the player I am if it wasn’t for the guys I’m competing with and who have been pushing me,” Ewels said.
“I came through all the age group stuff with Maro, so straight away that was the standard I was used to at that age.
“We’re fortunate to be playing in a generation where second row is a strong position for England.
“I don’t think I’d be competing and pushing and growing my game like I have done if I hadn’t been competing with these players.
“You can never look back at ifs, buts and maybes, you can only push towards what is front of you.
“I’ve learned different bits off everyone. Me and Maro are different players but there are elements of the game that he’s world class at.
“It’s some of his contact work and tackle work that I’m trying to learn from him, just like I’ll speak to Joe Launchbury about some of his work in the maul.
“I speak to George Kruis about his work in the line-out and Courtney Lawes about his tackle work.
“Everyone has got their strengths and weaknesses and across the five of us I’m trying to pick and choose the best bits from each of those guys to try and learn and add what they have to my game.”
Ewels packed down at number eight when he came on against Ireland.
“Whatever the boss tells me to do, I’ll do. I’ll play on the wing if he wants me to!” he said.
“It was the plan in the week that I was covering Courtney at six but that I would defend scrums at eight. That’s how it came about.
“I actually made my debut for Bath at number eight and have played there a few times for the club. The roles of four, five and six are very similar.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Morning, John. Do you think that it may be a good idea to rest both teams from the Madrid comp leading in to the Olympics
2 Go to comments« I am preparing myself for much more, something much bigger. I’m focussing on the next cycle, » You don’t say…
1 Go to commentsGeez plenty of time to come right before test season starts. Dont panic mr Mannering!!!!!
1 Go to commentsGreat read Nick. The Reds really have been great to watch this year, and the improvement of not only the players you mention, but the squad in general has been obvious. The Reds 10/12 play making axis is a nice counterpoint to the 10/15 partnership at the Brumbies and Rebels. If Schmidt was to pick say, Lolesio, Paisami and Wright / Kellaway, would this be too many play makers? I notice in a lot of those clips Tim Ryan playing across the field in support of Vunivalu. Is this a feature of Kiss’s structure?
2 Go to commentsSo sad, god rest him. Too young to be gone. RIP
2 Go to commentsRIP big man 🙏
2 Go to commentsThe GB coach. “Just because we don’t get together as much as other teams we don’t use that as an excuse for performances when we don’t hit the mark”. Why mention it at all then?
1 Go to commentsNo mention of the yellow card for Harlequins which really cost them.
3 Go to commentsThought you’d left us Nick. Good to have you back writing for us. So hunter ikitau works? I reckon wright kellaway as two of the back 3. Tim Ryan and Toole looking good for strike winger but I still want the power of korobeiti and figure our forwards still need him to help them out. Million dollar question is who plays 10? I’m thinking Noah for his kicking and combo with wright. Reckon the pair adds up to an attack and kellaway will help. Can you comment on Zac Lucas in Japan? How is he going?
2 Go to commentsMack Hansen, Ethan Roots, Taine Plumbtree, Louis Lynagh, Emmanuel Meafou? Which country do you want to pick your Barbarians from?
3 Go to commentsInstead of apologising, try to act like an adult, fcknut.
3 Go to commentsLooks like the Force twisted his leg…ahem arm
7 Go to commentsScotland should change their name to the Barbarians
3 Go to commentsThe game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
3 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
8 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
3 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
3 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
3 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
7 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
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