BEARS PAIR WITH A POINT TO PROVE
Bristol’s Ben Earl and Max Malins are gunning for parent club Sarries
BEN EARL is panting heavily as he sits down on a grassy bank at Bristol’s new £ 11.5million training facility, the England flanker embracing his surroundings with a neatly sculpted West Country mullet.
He plonks himself down beside house- mate, team- mate and fellow loanee Max Malins minutes after a gruelling session and extra defensive work in 32-degree heat to talk about a weird week. With sweat pouring off him and an isotonic drink in hand he initially struggles to speak.
‘Oi, oi, oi!’ sighs Earl, 22, with a grimace. ‘As long as you make it clear we’ve come straight off the training pitch!’
On this evidence there is no chance he is going to take today’s match lightly. This is not just a first outing since March, nor a mere debut for Bristol. It is against Saracens — the parent club to whom he and Malins will return next summer. So the strangest of years just became stranger.
‘We’ve spoken about this for ages,’ says Earl to Malins. ‘It’s going to be a weird one. It’s dead silence from everyone back in London, so I think they’re coming for us!’ Malins adds: ‘There’s definitely mixed emotions. I’m sure there’ll be a bit of chat!’
The pair have just about settled into Bristol life, sharing a flat in Clifton — five minutes from the new training venue — and when they are not there it is coffees, walks and hours watching the cricket. Earl is friends with England batsman Ollie Pope and went to school with Zak Crawley.
A ‘medium-fast’ bowler himself, he took five wickets in the annual
Saracens squad match last year, with Malins hitting a half-century. The duo are committed to their temporary life in Bristol but will not go too far.
‘ When are you getting the Bears tattoo lads?’ heckles Dave Attwood from afar.
It will be a surreal experience today for Earl coming up against Maro Itoje, Jamie George and the Vunipolas. Both he and Malins, who is not yet fit to play, have been turfed out of the Sarries WhatsApp groups and have discussed how to celebrate a try.
‘I’m not sure Ben can do the ol’ big chest pump,’ laughs Malins.
Earl, who is set to play a half from the bench at Ashton Gate, adds: ‘If we’re lucky enough to score I think I’ll be very low key and run back to the halfway line.’
Malins counters: ‘We talked about doing the Liam Williams celebration — “calm-down” hands!’
Earl adds: ‘We don’t want to disrespect our team-mates, they’ve been great with us for four or five years. Be respectful but play hard. We’ve got no credit in the bank here — we’ve still got to prove ourselves — and the only way to do that is to play hard. The boys back at the club are going to respect you more if you go harder than softer.’
With the salary cap saga engulfing Saracens it became clear that unlike the England internationals, youngsters were going to have to move to aid their development.
‘When the news came out, Eddie Jones was pretty clear that he wasn’t going to pick me if I wasn’t playing in the Premiership,’ says Earl, who made his Test debut during the Six Nations in February. ‘When he says that your mind is pretty much made up.’
Initially, clubs only wanted Sarries starlets on permanent deals. ‘Then I got a phone call from Pat Lam,’ Malins, 23, explains. ‘He said he wants the strongest squad possible at Bristol, told us what he wanted to achieve and offered the loan. Seeing this training facility, how well they’re doing, it made it an exciting prospect.’
With Bears director of rugby Lam snapping up the two hottest Sarries prospects — Earl the big, quick flanker, and Malins touted as a young Beauden Barrett at full back or fly-half — others followed suit. Nick Isiekwe went to Northampton, Jack Singleton to Gloucester, Nick Tompkins to Dragons and Alex Lozowski Montpellier. All will be back next summer and have committed to Saracens for years to come.
Both have Premiership winners’ medals already, having played a handful of games last season, but Bristol fans should not worry that they are just out West to cruise for a season and a half.
‘We’re very much here to win and think we can,’ says Earl. ‘We’re in the early stages of our careers so we’re here to learn, gain a fresh perspective but also win trophies.’
Malins, who will learn from superstars Semi Radradra and Charles Piutau, adds: ‘This playing group shows a lot of potential and can go a long way.’
The Bristol move will surely be a rousing success for both, but will there be any guilt that they won’t tough it out in the Championship with their relegated mates?
‘I’d have loved to, but if I went to play Championship rugby I wouldn’t necessarily progress as a player the way I would in the Premiership,’ says Malins.
Earl adds: ‘I certainly feel guilty that when it comes to 10 years down the line, it will be tough saying we weren’t there during the hard times. But it would have been seen as a year wasted so we have to make the most of it.’
After lockdown and the move, it was fate this would be the first game in 22 weeks. On Wednesday, Earl whipped off the mullet in preparation. He means business.
‘We wouldn’t want any other game,’ he says. ‘Bring it on.’