Ben Earl interview: 'We owe Scotland one' and how York training camp galvanised Steve Borthwick's men

They will return to North Yorkshire next week, this time hoping to have a spring in their step, having followed up their huge win over France with another similarly seismic result against Scotland.

Today’s game, the marquee draw of the middle round of the Six Nations, will be a fork in the road for both teams, with the winner still alive in the title race, the loser left to lick their wounds as another year without glory dawns.

Scotland have come out on top in each of the last four meetings between the two, last year’s 30-21 victory at Murrayfield sending England to their fallow-week training camp in York with plenty of soul-searching to do.

“We definitely owe them one,” Ben Earl, the England back-row forward, told The Yorkshire Post.

“They’ve had the wood on us over the last four or five years so it certainly feels like the time is right.

“But we’ve just got to go and perform as well as we can, which we haven’t done over the last couple of years. If we perform like we can then we’ll give ourselves the best chance.”

England certainly go into this latest renewal of the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium with the wind in their sails after they brought an end to their hard-luck stories against France in a pulsating game two weeks ago.

Getting over the line after a host of close calls brought “joy”, not relief, says Earl, their 27-year-old, 37-cap World Cup veteran. “We proved we can beat a big team in a close-fought contest. We knew we’d not been that far off so to get one over the line felt really good.”

England’s bolder attacking plan paid off against the French, Fin Smith at fly-half with Marcus Smith at full-back. In a game of fine margins, it was instrumental in helping England mount a second-half rally to thwart Antoine Dupont and the pre-tournament favourites.

Borthwick has gone with the same axis again, and even for a ball-carrying forward like Earl, their dual-threat creates new opening for him and his England team-mates.

“It’s worked really well against France, they’re both amazing players,” said Earl. “They’re very calm under pressure and two very skillful players, but they’re different players in their own right.

“I was really pleased to see them go so well against France, Fin was fantastic in that game and Marcus has been fantastic for us for the last couple of years, so for them two to be on the pitch together at the same time can only be a good thing.

“Just having two playmakers means you can attack in a slightly different way, you’re getting opportunities that you maybe didn’t see before that now are a little bit more open with the likelihood that we can take those a bit more regularly.”

The slight tactical change is all part of the evolution of this England team from the one Borthwick led to a World Cup semi-final in autumn 2023, another of their many defeats decided by fine margins.

Taking his team out of their comfort zone has been a big part of developing that culture, and it was something that worked a treat in York 12 months ago.

England used the second fallow week to get away from their traditional Surrey base to spend the week in camp in Yorkshire, finishing it off with a training session open to schoolkids, rugby clubs and the general public at the LNER Community Stadium.

That initiative was such a success for the bigger picture of growing the England men’s team brand that Borthwick is bringing his players back up here next week, with another open training session earmarked for this Friday, February 28.

“It’s massive for us in terms of seeing fans that sometimes can’t get down to London,” says Earl, who trained on the pitch that next month hosts England’s women’s team’s Six Nations opener against Italy.

“For us to be able to see them, hear them and feel their presence is massive.

"We always appreciate them coming down.”

And if all goes to plan at headquarters today, England will head to their Yorkshire retreat in a lot better space than they did a year ago.

“We had a brilliant time up in York last year, it was almost a turning point of our campaign and our identity as a team, so that was massive for us,” said Earl.

“And also just a chance to get some really good physical work done as well, reviewing what’s to come and what has gone before is really important. They’re very important weeks for a number of different reasons and it’s great to get into a new environment.

“Hopefully we come up with a bit more momentum and we can build on that at what is an amazing facility in an amazing city like York.”

Friday’s open training session runs from between 10:30 and 11am with an approximate finishing time of no later than 1pm.

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