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<\/p>\nFlanker Ben Earl stood out for England in a vital opening win against Argentina <\/p>\n
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For an England side in desperate need of victory, Saturday\u2019s opening pool fixture with Argentina was simply about finding a way to win. There will surely come a time at this tournament for greater attacking invention, when a succession of strikes from George Ford\u2019s right boot are not enough, but this was a first, vital building block for a team still in search of foundations. <\/p>\n
While Argentina were some way short of their best, fluffing their lines with England apparently ripe for the taking, Steve Borthwick\u2019s side surely deserve credit for the manner in which their 14 men harried and stifled their toughest Pool D opponents. This was comfortably the best showing yet for Kevin Sinfield\u2019s defence, both accurate and intense \u2013 full back Freddie Steward had to only make one tackle and it took until the final minute for Rodrigo Bruni to add to Emiliano Boffelli\u2019s fifth minute penalty.<\/p>\n
A backs-against-the-wall performance was perhaps best exemplified by flanker Ben Earl. The back rower produced an all-action 80 minutes, England\u2019s energiser bunny leading the defensive effort right from the very start.<\/p>\n
Twice in a single passage inside the first two minutes, Earl fired out of the line, lassoing the legs to catch an Argentina carrier behind the gainline. After disaster threatened to strike England with Tom Curry sent off, Earl\u2019s role shifted slightly: England showed their smarts by using makeshift flankers, including Manu Tuilagi, on their own feed to allow their number eight to launch away from the base, while preserving a balanced scrum and full defensive backline by going with a seven-man shove with no-one at the rear and Earl on the flank on Argentina\u2019s feed.<\/p>\n
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With Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje doing plenty of heavy lifting, Earl was free to roam and cause chaos, winning a breakdown turnover during his best night in an England shirt yet as his side showed they are alive – and kicking – at this World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sometimes makes things easier with 14 men,\u201d Earl explained afterwards. \u201cIt narrows your focus in terms of knowing exactly what we\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve challenges us to be the fastest learning team in the world. We do get posed those challenges in training. We have team tactical meetings and all sorts. It\u2019s not something we haven\u2019t thought about. For it to come out on the pitch in the first game of the World Cup, it\u2019s kind of like your dices landing up. It\u2019s focussed us a little bit more in terms of us working on the nuts and bolts of our game.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur \u2018D\u2019 has not been where we want it to be. We\u2019ve leaked quite a lot of tries this summer. It\u2019s proof the training\u2019s working. You don\u2019t win any points in the warm up games. Now we\u2019re buzzing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond those two early moments, it was Earl hustling up alongside Joe Marchant when Elliot Daly\u2019s long range penalty fell short in the first half, forcing a hurried clearance, with Earl roaring and punching the air in celebration.<\/p>\n
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There has been plenty of attention on the 25-year-old histrionics after every minor moment won. His antics can grate, in truth, sometimes inconsequential moments in the broader in-game context met with the sort of gusto normally reserved for a last minute winner: the flanker could be seen launching into misplaced celebration as Curry made his mistimed tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia, and in the second half clapping his hands as Argentina were awarded a scrum penalty.<\/p>\n
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Earl\u2019s excessive celebrations have attracted negative attention but give his side energy <\/p>\n
But Earl, along with a couple of others in this English side, feel like their need to generate their own energy. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a few players that like to celebrate things,\u201d Lawes explained afterwards. \u201cBoys celebrate things in different ways. I like to reserve my energy for other things but it lifts us. The things that really get the team going, though, are when boys step up and do the tough jobs really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Steve Borthwick\u2019s original planning for this tournament, Earl looked like he might be a bit-part figure. The indications coming out of camp were that Billy Vunipola would be utilised as a number eight, with Tom Curry and Courtney Lawes his likely partners and Borthwick intrigued by the prospect of Curry and Jack Willis in partnership. But Earl\u2019s vigour and versality have brought him into the mix, with his ability to slide from seven to eight particularly valuable after Vunipola\u2019s ban. He is highly regarded as a link man in wide channels \u2013 though a couple of skewed kicks suggest there is work to do in that regard.<\/p>\n
It is clear that Earl, a schoolmate of England cricketer Zak Crawley at New Beacon and Tonbridge in Kent, does not lack for confidence. Curry and Sam Underhill\u2019s partnership at the 2019 tournament saw them dubbed the Kamikaze Kids by Eddie Jones; the headstrong Earl is cut from similarly dynamic cloth.<\/p>\n
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Provided Curry\u2019s red card remains and a ban arrives, England will need a back row reshuffle. Billy Vunipola is back available for their encounter with Japan in Nice on Sunday, and his bulk valuable against a Brave Blossoms pack that often struggles to counter pure power.<\/p>\n
With Lewis Ludlam impressive off the bench, up into double figures on the tackle count in just 15 minutes on the pitch, and Willis, so effective for Toulouse last season, left out of the squad entirely, Borthwick has options. But having had to bide his time for a first appearance in a run-on England side, appearing 15 times off the bench before finally making the fifteen against Wales in the Twickenham warm-up, Earl appears to have cemented himself as a certain starter. <\/p>\n