The ‘eye-opening’ lesson Ben Earl learned on first Lions tour
The British and Irish Lions may just have suffered a third Test defeat, but the broad smile on a beaming Ben Earl’s face could virtually span the Sydney Harbour. Of course, a series had been secured, reason enough for celebration, but the effusive Englishman is speaking about something greater.
“It’s been a life-changing experience,” he begins. “It showed me something completely different in terms of the rugby side of things. I’ve loved it. Honestly, it has been completely transformative for me and I’m a far better player because of it.”
So far, so normal – it is tough to find a Lions player who hasn’t come back from this trip having had the experience of their lives. That is in part due to a group that, even among Lions squads, has developed a special bond; plans are already afoot for a reunion in 12 years. But for Earl, as dedicated and ambitious an individual as they come, this trip has allowed him to reconnect with primitive rugby days and learn to approach the game in a distinctly different way.
“Just get out of your own way,” Earl says when asked for his biggest learning. “You can overthink this sport so much, but when you’ve got a game on Saturday, then you’ve got to play again on Tuesday or Wednesday, you’re not going to be able to do every rep, review everything opposition. Get out of your own way and just play rugby.
“It’s almost like you get to the pinnacle of our sport, this is what it is, and you’re back playing under-12s on a Sunday morning. That’s honestly how it feels, there’s no preparation, you just go out, you have a plan, you try to implement it, you express yourself in a way that Andy and the rest of the coaching staff have allowed us to do and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
The evening of the third Test provided an experience that Earl believes displays the sort of spirit he hopes to carry back to Saracens and England. “We got on our Lions bus and the door got jammed. We’re trying to go 3-0 and we had to change buses, and you should have seen the group. I’ve been involved in groups where that would have thrown boys off, but we’re just laughing, having craic.
“Two minutes max, but it was like, we’re not on the team bus, so what does that mean? Get out of your own way. It’s a game of rugby. Whatever bus you’re on, it doesn’t make a difference how you’re going to play.”
A few superstitious sorts may take exception to Earl’s life lesson, but there is a marked difference in tone from a player who has flourished in several process-driven environments. Having arrived in Australia with no preconceptions about the tour nor his place in Andy Farrell’s pecking order, the 27-year-old is delighted to have featured twice off the bench in the Tests. The close friendships forged on tour will make next year tricky, he thinks. “It’ll be bizarre during the Six Nations to play against these fellas again because they’re such knock-out blokes.”
He speaks highly of Farrell senior – “every time he talks to the group, I’m like, ‘I’ll do anything for that man’” – and Farrell junior, with Owen set to be a club, and perhaps country, teammate again when he and Earl return to Saracens. “Every time I take the pitch with Owen, I think ‘we’re going to win’. That’s his best quality.”
For Earl, a break beckons, with a 10-week mandatory stand-down period before a return to Prem Rugby likely to be filled with plenty of golf for a very low handicapper. A bit of cricket watching is on the cards, too – England opener Zak Crawley is a Tonbridge schoolboy chum and Earl enjoyed his mate’s cavalier first-innings half-century at the Oval.
The body will be glad of a break after an 11-month season of more than 30 games, but when the time comes to return, Earl believes he will be ready to rip in. “I’m almost excited to get going again. I need my time off, but I’m almost excited to get back into certain environments to be like, ‘well, actually have you thought about this’.
“There’s stuff that I’ve spoken to fellow Englishmen about that, actually, there’s some cool stuff that we can bring back to camp and that’s sort of the whole point, isn’t it? We can come back and say, ‘actually, there are some bits that we’ve done here that actually work when we have time away or during campaigns’.
“I’ve probably got more trust in what I’ve done rather than second-guessing myself. Honestly, some of the best players in the world are in that changing room and some of them are the most relaxed people I’ve ever seen about preparation, training. It’s eye-opening.”
