When Tom Willis contacted Steve Borthwick to tell him he was headed to France next season and the England head coach responded by omitting him from his squad, the autumn internationals sands shifted.
Only Borthwick will know for sure whether he would have picked Willis at No 8 against Australia in the opening match but there was a fair chance. With the form he has been in for Saracens and the lead he provided in Argentina in the summer, he would almost certainly have made a very good fist of the Quilter Nations Series too but his impending departure across the Channel changed the game.
Instead, Ben Earl was handed the jersey and he responded by being arguably England’s man of the autumn.
There were a few other contenders in a successful campaign but for sustained influence, the Saracen was untouchable.
Man of the match in the first two matches, he topped England’s ball-carrying statistics in all four and led the tackle count against Argentina last weekend with 25.
On both sides of the ball, he more than seized his moment.
It was entirely appropriate that he was the one to boot the ball into touch to put the full stop on the high point of England’s autumn, the win over the All Blacks.
While he will never bring the close-quarters battering ram qualities of Willis – he is two stones lighter than his club-mate – the dynamism Earl brings to England as a ‘seven-and-a-half’ offers the side an interesting alternative.
He’s a unique player and a brilliant player – he brings a huge amount of energy to any team.
If England play kick high and gather up the crumbs, which was their predominant tactical approach against Argentina, having energetic hunter-gatherers like Earl is a bonus.
If they switch to a more land-based game, then his ball handling and thrust is a good fit too.
The centre cameos – a position he played in his youth – merely underline his range.
If Earl is not the picture of a caricature England No 8 – a Dean Richards or Billy Vunipola – then that is perhaps a reflection of the times as much as the available stocks.
Saracens and England team-mate Jamie George thinks that Earl’s squat stature works for him as international No 8 in the current era.
“He is different – he uses his footwork – but I think that is the way the game’s going now,” said George.
“I think the top end of the game is getting faster and it’s getting played at a lower level in terms of height.
“Ben’s not overly tall but he’s very fast and elusive and that lends itself to being good at the top level.
“He’s also incredibly powerful – he makes good dents in the middle of the field. Often with athletic back-rowers, you say: ‘Go and stand out on the wing towards the edge’ but he does his best work when he’s in the middle of the field, and that’s what I think England have identified and certainly Saracens have been looking to do the same.
Earl’s pace off the mark means the collisions, while less route one in nature, more often than not come on his terms. In the crucial area of post-contact metres, he made 48 in that win over the All Blacks.
Coaches love a bang-the-door-down bruiser for the good reason that they offer a straightforward way to create an indentation in a defensive line and front-foot ball.
Earl finds a way around that with his pace off the mark meaning the collisions, while less route one in nature, more often than not come on his terms.
In the crucial area of post-contact metres, he made 48 in that win over the All Blacks.
If the lineout options are restricted in picking a 6ft tall No 8, Guy Pepper’s understated excellence at blind-side flanker solved that particular problem.
The experiment with Chandler Cunningham-South against Fiji – when Earl reverted to his club position of No 7 – hinted that Borthwick may still instinctively yearn for more size at the back of the scrum. But the Cunningham-South selection felt like more of an emergency cover experiment.
Tournament squads need options for unexpected eventualities and Cunningham-South – a flanker for Harlequins – has now been tried both at second row and No 8 by England, possibly with an eye on him as a World Cup utility man.
Should a Prem club be successful in landing the English-qualified Hoskins Sotutu from the Blues, as several are attempting to, the landscape could change.
But for the time being Earl would appear to have a clear run at No 8 looking towards the Six Nations as he nears a half-century of caps for his country.
His first 15 came off the bench. It wasn’t until the World Cup warm-up game against Wales two years ago that he was trusted by Borthwick to start for the first time.
That was far from an easy period as he struggled to carve out his own niche.
He has well and truly done so now.
What has helped him on his journey has been his belief, not just in himself – although that certainly sustained him when the door to a starting place with England stayed closed for so long.
Earls is part of an England side which, from being unable to buy a win 12 months ago, has forgotten how to lose. And that, of late, has been in no small part down to his labours.
Earl cites his Christian faith as an important element in keeping perspective on the days when rugby does not go to plan.
He has a fellow believer in the England pack in Maro Itoje, who sometimes attends the same church in Notting Hill.
Whatever the Almighty’s plan for his future, the present could hardly look rosier. He is part of an England side which, from being unable to buy a win 12 months ago, has forgotten how to lose. And that, of late, has been in no small part down to his labours.
Whether Earl is the long-term solution at No 8 we will see, but he could not have done much more this autumn to show his value.
It may not be textbook, but it is mightily effective all the same.
No Willis, no worries for Borthwick and England.
One other observation is how much fitter and stronger the ENG players looked this Autumn.
I know the majority have been on Lions tours or Summer tours but we did look physically fitter than we have done in a while. Hard to tell if it’s the summer tours going straight into the season, or if this is the Steve Morrow effect . . . . But it’s certainly the best I can remember for a while, especially in those last 15 mins of games.
It is amazing how much fitter you become when you are winning.
Quality player, can’t believe he was constantly overlooked by Eddie..
In fairness, even Earl himself admits that he improved his fitness and consistency since Eddie’s days and he also really fits this new 5x7 gameplan that Borthwick has created, so everything is designed to get the best from him, whereas Eddie just wanted a 140KG carrier, which is why Nathan Hughes & Billy V were his favoured options and nobody else really got a chance (Simmonds, Mercer, etc).
The Tom Willis Top 14 move created two questions, who were the preferred choice 8s and could they fill the gap left by Willis.
What we have seen is an emphatic confirmation that Earl & Pollock are the favoured two options for ENG, which allowed the 5x7’s to be deployed with significant benefits in defence and tackle count.
Having seen so much success by doubling down with the 5x7’s, I just wonder with the starting advantages of having Sam Underhill in those early defence exchanges, should Steve Borthwick experiment further and move a 7|1 bench, allowing 6x7s to be included in the 23, so you start with say PEPPER/UNDERHIL/EARL and then bring on CURRY/CURRY/POLLOCK to see out the final 30 and maintain those super high energy levels and attack of the breakdown in those final 30 mins of matches.
There’s definitely something in the 5x7’s that’s different and I just wonder if 6x7’s adds anything else to the performance levels.
Biggar addresses this on his podcast overnight, that the physics of competing against the current SA set up might negate SB’s ability to start PEPPER/UNDERHIL/EARL.
Watching us against Argentina had me thinking something similar, that SB has an awkward choice to make. P/U/E br has performed admirably over the autumn, but when the heat came on in the last quarter, our reliance on 80min Itoge was starting to show its falibility.
I wonder if, against SA, we might see a bench of props/chessum/ccc negate the ability to play the 5x7s/6x7s model due to the physicality required to survive the last 20-30mins.
Orrr…does SB and the coaching team believe they’re innovating in a similar way to that which SA have done over the last few years, and they double down on their approach. Interesting times ahead
Potent setup, hope he tries it in SA next year.