BEN EARL is pretty good at everything. After winning last year’s Premiership with Saracens, he took the World Cup by storm before being named in the Six Nations Team of the Tournament. That’s the rugby side of things accounted for.
When the biggest gripe people have with you is that you are celebrating too much then it’s fair to say things are going pretty well. Earl says his targeted on-field outbursts are designed to keep him engaged and gee up his team, but there’s cause for celebration away from his day job as a professional player too.
A tidy left-handed golfer, Earl plays off three, or at least he did until a broken hand derailed his start to the summer. His golf clubs are his prized possession.
“Golf’s my not-so-hidden talent. It’s a big passion of mine,” Earl admits to RW. “Being a leftie is nice because no one can borrow your clubs, which I’m not a big fan of. I’m not a sharer of my golf clubs, they are like the most important things to me of all time. You can borrow anything else, just leave my golf clubs!”
With a degree in comparative literature and now studying for a Masters in sports directorship at Manchester Metropolitan University, the former Tonbridge pupil is no slouch when it comes to the books.
He’s great mates with the England opener Zak Crawley and was a serious cricketer himself before hanging up his whites to focus on taking his rugby seriously with the view to turning pro.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Rugby World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
"I remember getting eating guidelines for Christmas Day!"
CHRISTMAS, the most wonderful time of the year? Not if you’re a professional rugby player it’s not.
Rugby firsts
FIRST RUGBY match you went to? I would have gone to RODNEY PARADE to watch a Newport game when I was about six years old, so around 1992 or 1993.
THE JOHN FISHER STATE SCHOOL RUGBY FESTIVAL
The inaugural John Fisher Rugby Festival hopes to Send state-school rugby players into the stratosphere.
The Making Of Robbie Henshaw
How this small-town boy went On to become a big-time player
RG SNYMAN
The giant Springbok is enjoying the best of both worlds since joining Leinster
BENHARD JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Bristol's South African centre has one eye on an England call-up in 2026
RUGBY RANT
Jessica Hayden, author of The Red Roses, says the women’s game can handle criticism
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO ...GO ON TOUR WITH EMERGING IRELAND
Munster's Ben O'Connor tells RW about the eye-opening trip to South Africa
"Welsh rugby treats players like pieces of meat, not assets"
THEY’VE BUILT the women’s game around the men’s game in Wales but it has to be its own thing.
"I don't believe in dinosaurs – the boys think it's nuts!"
The Exeter Chiefs hooker talks Tarmac, time travel and Tyson Fury