BEN EARL was at the forefront of England’s seismic victory over Ireland after predicting to Steve Borthwick the impact he intended to have at Twickenham.
In a sign of his growing confidence, Earl told his head coach hours before the game how he expected his 29th cap to unfold. Advertisement “Ben played his first 15 games off the bench. Even in last year’s Six Nations he played a run of games and then he was out. A courageous gameplan that placed an emphasis on attack was well executed with the try count won 3-2, providing redemption after an error-strewn defeat by Scotland a fortnight ago.
“I believe we need to create a supportive environment. Everybody involved with English rugby is under incredible scrutiny. That’s just the way it is. “Mistakes are going to happen and we are understanding of that, but we don’t want to repeat mistakes. We have got to learn fast.