Irish Daily Mail

Ben Earl’s needless comments took away from a brilliant display

- CLIVE WOODWARD WORLD CUP WINNING COACH

THE last time England played this well was in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.

That fantastic display against the All Blacks should have been a springboar­d for global glory the following weekend and a long period of success. Instead, England rested on their laurels, got distracted, and were blown away by South Africa in the final. It was a game Eddie Jones and his side never recovered from.

England’s performanc­e to beat Ireland at Twickenham was a huge step in the right direction for Steve Borthwick and the team. They played with purpose, speed, intent and huge passion.

It was not perfect, but it was brilliant to see. The place erupted when Marcus Smith hit the winning drop goal. Now, unlike five years ago, England have to build on such a good display.

As an internatio­nal coach, it is far easier to be tough on your team on the back of a win, and even more so when you have played so well. That’s what Borthwick must do this week with the message that the Ireland win will mean nothing if England lose to France in Lyon.

Now is the time to get tough. England cannot think for a second the Ireland performanc­e will just happen again. You must analyse why you were successful not only in the game itself, but the whole build-up.

This win must be the standard England have to aspire to. And not only that, they must aim to improve because they can still be so much better than what we saw at the weekend, especially around the speed of their play from scrums and line-outs.

Playing as they did against Ireland when you are at home and the underdogs is one thing. But England must aspire to be a team who can go to places like Auckland, Pretoria, Dublin and Paris as favourites and win. That doesn’t happen overnight and should keep everyone’s feet firmly on the ground. This did not happen in 2019. To perform consistent­ly to the level they did against Ireland, England must have what I would term five or six ‘gold medal’ players in their team. By that, I mean players who are the best in the world in their positions. England currently do not have too many of them. But, crucially, they have the potential to do so.

Next year’s Lions will be a good indication of where they stand. At this stage, the likes of South Africa and New Zealand won’t be losing any sleep. Further improvemen­t is still required if Borthwick’s men are to trouble the world’s best on a regular basis.

That said, the way England’s players performed to beat a brilliant Ireland side was more than promising. Maro Itoje, George Martin and Ollie Chessum really stood out. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso showed a huge amount of promise on the wing. I would love to see him, George Furbank and Marcus Smith given real time together. Henry Slade was excellent as well. His best days can still be ahead of him.

ENGLAND’S players did their talking on the pitch and well done to them. But I didn’t like seeing a number of them hit back at the media in post-match interviews.

Ben Earl was one to criticise the coverage England received after their Scotland defeat. That’s not what champion teams or champion individual­s do.

They should ignore the media or just see criticism as positive feedback like I did! Earl’s comments that ‘apparently we are the worst England team ever’ and ‘we have done pretty well for that accolade’ were not needed and detracted from the team’s performanc­e and his own, which was outstandin­g.

I don’t think anyone in the media called England’s current crop the worst in history! England’s players have to accept that if they play poorly — as they did in Edinburgh — they will be criticised. It’s part of playing at the highest level. I also think England shouldn’t just take aim at the media as a collective. If a player or coach has a grievance with what a journalist has written, then name them directly! If that is me, I’m fine with that!

Earl was outstandin­g against Ireland. He should become a ‘gold medal’ player. He can be a talismanic No8 for England in a way no player has since Lawrence Dallaglio. Earl and England must do their talking on the pitch — as they did against Ireland — not go to war with the Press. There is only one winner there.

Just as England were rightly questioned post-Edinburgh, they deserve a huge amount of praise for beating Ireland. The atmosphere at Twickenham was brilliant. It showed that entertaini­ng, winning rugby is the only thing you need to get the place rocking and not pre-match light shows.

France v England is now a huge game. I do not think France have recovered emotionall­y since exiting their home World Cup.

I expect England’s win against Ireland to wake them up for what will be an enthrallin­g Le Crunch.

Ireland had been so dominant in the Six Nations that England’s win breathed new life into what up to that point had been an underwhelm­ing Championsh­ip.

Well done England and well done Borthwick!

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 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Proving a point: England’s Ben Earl on the charge
GETTY IMAGES Proving a point: England’s Ben Earl on the charge

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