Ben Earl believes he has ‘cost’ England two Tests this Autumn Nations Series
Springboks centre Damian de Allende and an insert of England star Ben Earl.
Back-rower Ben Earl believes that his errors against the All Blacks and Springboks resulted in England’s defeats this Autumn Nations Series.
Steve Borthwick’s side are on a five-game losing streak after going down twice to the All Blacks in New Zealand in July before losing to the same opposition at Twickenham and then falling to Australia and South Africa.
It is the team’s longest drought since a run of five losses back in 2018. However, England have been in a position to win all five of those matches but have fallen off the pace in the latter stages of the games, with all five defeats coming by single-digit margins.
Ben Earl’s errors
England looked on track to beat New Zealand on November 2 as they held a 22-14 lead when Maro Itoje won a turnover for his side and they were awarded a penalty a phase later. However, a no-arms tackle by Earl gave New Zealand the opportunity to kick at goal and Damian McKenzie reduced the hosts’ lead to just five points before Mark Tele’a’s converted try sealed the result for the All Blacks.
A week later it was a brilliant offload at the death from Len Ikitau which wrapped up Australia’s come-from-behind victory over England and they were in with a chance against the world champion Springboks too.
England trailed South Africa by just two points heading into the final quarter before Springboks centre Damian de Allende burst through the defence, shrugging off the attempted tackles of Earl and Henry Slade before sending Cheslin Kolbe over for the winger’s second try with Handre Pollard adding the extras and another penalty to steer South Africa to a 29-20 victory.
Article continues below…
Damian de Allende x Cheslin Kolbe 🇿🇦
That epic try just hits different in super slow motion, some incredible strength and skill on display 🤩#AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/SV9KhFoTXG
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 18, 2024
Earl feels personally responsible for those results admitting as much in an interview with the Telegraph, with his performances in those matches causing sleepless nights for the loose forward.
“I probably did not sleep for the two nights, genuinely,” Earl told the newspaper.
“Monday was the first time I had a full sleep. It’s awful. There’s nothing for it. That’s the beauty of Test match rugby: I think I made 15 tackles but the one I missed and they score. That’s Test match rugby. If you were to ask me what my big growth is it is delivering really late on in those games and, being a vice-captain and senior leader in this group, I need to deliver in those moments.”
“Completely reckless”
The Saracens star was handed his Test debut under Eddie Jones in 2020 but only really nailed down a regular role in the squad and matchday 23 once Borthwick took charge. He has now racked up 36 Test caps for England and while he rues his costly errors in the defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, he admits that he would much rather be playing international rugby where players are under the microscope than club rugby.
“I have missed one tackle and it has cost us the match. I have given one or two penalties in this campaign and it has cost us the match,” he continued.
“The New Zealand one, again a completely reckless thing to do when the stakes were highest. This is not woe is me. This is a case of how amazing is it that this game that we are playing is on such a knife edge and if you don’t get the best out of yourself at every moment then you will let a lot of people down. To me, that is amazing but scary.
“At the end of the day, this is where I want to be. If I didn’t want to do it then I could go back to club rugby where you don’t get the same scrutiny. This is where I want to be but sometimes you come up short, like I did at the weekend.”
England will now look to end their year on a high as they tackle Jones’ Japan team in their final game of 2024.
READ MORE: England: Maro Itoje offers blunt verdict on rumoured LIV-style breakaway league
