Ben Earl says England are in for 'big results'; vs Fiji in the quarter-finals Photo: Getty Images/Dan Mullan
Ben Earle admits England's players are not considered world-class players but believes they can change perceptions by beating Fiji to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
Earl, who will win his 23rd cap for No. 8 at Marseille on Sunday afternoon, admitted he doesn't know if he qualifies as a «big game player».
< p> The 25-year-old, who has excelled at the England tournament so far, believes the clash with Fiji, which features Levani Botia and the «incredible» Semi Radradra — a former Bristol Bears colleague — will prove to be a showcase. This is because Earl cannot yet be confident that he will succeed when the stakes are highest.
“I don’t know yet because I haven’t played very, very big games like this,” he admitted. with astonishing candor.
“This is as big as it gets. We lose and go home on Monday and I didn't think much about it. But that's the reality of where we are.
“If you want to be considered one of the best players in the world, you need to start showing up in games like this, and that's what I want you to do classified. I think we'll find out on Sunday.»
Earl had a front row seat to what he called the «Botia clinic» last season when Saracens crashed out of the European Cup in the quarter-finals. in the final stage, losing 24–10 to La Rochelle in a game that saw the Fijian star repeatedly lose trademarks.
It would be unfair to suggest that Botia, like fellow Fiji internationals Vaisea Nayakalevu and Josua Tuisova, would be in any way closer to the current World XV than any member of Steve Borthwick's squad. In that regard, Earl sees this weekend as an opportunity for himself and his teammates, some of whom have been closer to consideration for a World XV in the past, not least during England's run to the final four years ago.
“You see a lot of stuff on social media about the World XV and things like that, and there's probably not a lot of representation in England in that regard,” he said.
“A lot of people don't think that there are so many of us there. So these are the possibilities. These are the stages in which we want to take part.
“You learn a lot about your teammates, you learn a lot about yourself. I can say with confidence that, judging by the way we have been training the last couple of weeks, how we have been preparing for the last month and a half, we are in for some big performances.”
“We know many of our team have been in these positions before and we know what it takes,” Earle added. “I can only learn by spending a lot of time with Owen [Farrell], Maro [Itoje], Jamie George at my club and the likes of Courtney [Laws], Manu [Tuilagi] and George Ford, those guys who played in it club. The New Zealand game [in 2019] came out the other side. I'm just leaning on these guys as much as I can and having fun with it.
“[The World XV selection] is just an opinion. But at the same time, we know what level we are and we know that on any given day with certain players in our team, we become a team that is very, very difficult to beat.
“It’s now or never on Sunday. Nobody wants to fly back to London on Monday morning. So we're going to go out there and give it our best shot and see what happens.»
While the process of overturning Botia will require a collective effort on England's part, Earl, a survivor of the squad that lost to Fiji in August, did not shy away from the significance of the fight in the background. Tom Curry and Laws will join Earl in England's starting back row, with Billy Vunipola on the bench. Botia, who did not compete for Fiji in August, will compete alongside Lekima Tagitagivalu and William Mata.
“I think the back row as a whole is probably going to be a big factor in the decision,” Earle said. “I'm focused on playing well. I'm focused on getting their back row to be as quiet as possible. Me, Courtney, Tom, Billy when he shows up; I think if we keep them quiet, we can decide which direction the game goes.”
Earl, who is ready for an «amazing» atmosphere comparable to the atmosphere of beating Argentina at the same venue, called the tournament for now «dream». The winners of the third quarter-final will advance to the semi-finals in Paris next Saturday against France or South Africa. Get to the last four, Earl reckons, and all bets are off. England, he argues, is not worried about not liking the title.
“ Frankly, we don’t care,” Earl added. “We are in the quarterfinals. They can watch us, they can do whatever they want, but we have to play on Sunday and if we win we'll be in the semi-finals and then it will be anyone's game. On Sunday we will try to sort things out, and then we will go to Paris.”
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