AN UNSOLICITED 5.30am wake-up call that necessitated a trip to the toilet, unable to sleep and freezing cold, Keith Earls’ preparation for Saturday’s game against England could not have been more fraught. He’d contracted a bug. Broken sleep is one thing but the draining effect of a virus far more debilitating.
Ireland’s young left wing didn’t know whether he’d be fit enough to take his place against England. He desperately wanted to but wouldn’t jeopardise the team’s chances. The conundrum would linger right up until kick-off.
“I wasn’t feeling that good in the morning. I had a small bit of a bug. I didn’t know if I would have the energy.
“It might have been with all the travelling and stuff. The temperatures are changing; it’s getting cold again so it was probably some sort of bug. In the warm-up,
“I felt knackered. But when I came back out again for the national anthems, I felt a little bit better. I got a few taps of the ball then and felt much better, eased into the game.”
It’s something of an understatement.
Earls, winning his eighth cap, played with a maturity and concentration in dispensing the traditional duties of left wing and latterly when Brian O’Driscoll was stretchered off, centre, while still managing to demonstrate slashing footwork in one memorable break.
He scored Ireland’s second try, caught a superb garryowen and as a minor footnote threw himself at Steve Borthwick when the Danny Care-Tomás O’Leary scuffle broke out.
Dealing chronologically with those cameos, Earls admitted: “Yeah, it (the chance to carry) was good. I always want to run with the ball, I don’t think about kicking. I said I’d give it a go here. And when I saw a couple of forwards in front of me I thought, ‘Jesus, I’m in for it’. But luckily I got through.”
He didn’t hear Jamie Heaslip roaring for the ball outside him, instead electing to chip. Care beat the Irish number eight in the footrace for touch down. So what about the try?
“Yeah, I got one a couple of years ago (at Twickenham) for the (Ireland) As against Scotland (in the Churchill Cup) but to score one against England was even better.
“It was a great maul by the forwards. Jonny Sexton then just came down the blind side and put me away in the corner.
“I can’t remember if there was a defender. It’s all a bit of a blur. I thought it was just a handy walk-in. I think there might have been a forward inside Danny Care.”
Speaking of the England scrumhalf, Earls was first on the scene as a posse of England players surrounded the Care-O’Leary flare-up. He weighed up the situation and grabbed Borthwick. “Ah there were a couple of fellas hanging around Tomás,” Earls smiled. “I don’t like to see a fella left on his own: you just go in and push anyway, I would have got nowhere, I’d say.”
So you picked the biggest you could find?
“They fall harder, don’t they?”
On a more serious note, Earls has had to demonstrate his versatility, switching to fullback in Paris following Rob Kearney’s injury and centre when O’Driscoll unfortunately caught Paul O’Connell’s knee on the side of the temple. This is quite apart from starting the two matches on the left wing.
“It was my first time playing at international level in the centre. You have to be really physical and fit. There’s a lot of work-rate. It was a good experience. England were really physical. They’d be up there with the French; they’re really tough.
“You try to put them to ground but it’s very hard to do it. There was a huge work-rate from our forwards, really, to back us up.
“I’m enjoying it (playing on the left wing) now, starting to get a lot more experience there and learn a lot more about it. I’m getting a bit more ball and I’m happy. I didn’t mind playing at fullback in Paris. I always do my analysis on the three positions, centre, wing and fullback. It was a bit strange but it’s all about getting experience.”
He’ll be hoping for a more sedate one on the night before the Welsh game in Croke Park on Saturday week.
