Young No 8 represents the future of Steve Borthwick’s side aiming to end apathy at home
Eddie Jones had a theory when he was coaching England that you needed five world-class players to win the World Cup. Clive Woodward, the only coach to do so with England, had a similar, if more ambitious mantra, specifically instructing his players to set about becoming the best in the world in their position.
Picking a world XV is entirely subjective but it is fair to say that not many England players would make it into most of those selected. There would be significantly more from Fiji – their World Cup quarter-final opponents on Sunday – in a lot of them, given the star qualities of Levani Botia, Semi Radradra and Waisea Nayacalevu to name three. That rankles with England and Ben Earl, who starts at No 8, in particular.
Written by Gerard Meagher in Marseille
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/14/earl-and-england-search-for-world-cup-finesse-against-fiji-to-win-fans-back under the title “Earl and England search for World Cup finesse against Fiji to win fans back”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
