Earls beats his bugbears to shine at Twickenham

By Charlie Mulqueen

Monday, March 01, 2010

SATURDAY ended as one of the most memorable outings in the exciting career of young Keith Earls, who scored his fourth international try at Twickenham.

But the day had a worrying start for the Limerick man who was laid low with a stomach bug.

He revealed: "I was up at 5.30am. I couldn’t sleep and I was freezing. I didn’t know if I would have the energy but I just got on with it. In the warm-up, I felt knackered but when I came back out again for the national anthems, I felt a little better. I got a few taps of the ball and then felt much better and eased into the game."

And how he eased into battle. The high point of his first half was a mazy run where he ate up the ground swerving through several tacklers, including the mighty Steve Borthwick.

"I always want to run with the ball, I don’t think about kicking," he recalled of the burst.

"I said I’d give it a go there. And when I saw a couple of forwards in front of me I thought, Jeez I’m in for it. But luckily I got through."

That burst could easily have led to a try but his kick ahead was just too strong and allowed the defence to recover. Apparently, Jamie Heaslip was hoping for a pass but Earls admitted that "I couldn’t hear Jamie roaring at me".

In the second half, Earls was to the fore in a different capacity leading to the rescue party when his team-mate Tomás O’Leary got involved with his opposite number Danny Care and the giant England captain Borthwick in one of the game’s defining moments.

"There were a couple of fellas hanging around Tomás and I don’t like to see a fella left on his own. I went for the biggest fella but don’t the say the bigger they are, the harder they fall," said Earls.

The penalty originally awarded to England was reversed by referee Mark Lawrence and it was from Jonny Sexton’s superb touch-finder deep in the England 22 that Paul O’Connell, David Wallace, Sexton and O’Leary combined to send Earls in for his fourth international try.

He recalled: "That was a great kick by Jonny and a great walk-in pass for the try. That’s the way I remember it anyway, and I was happy out. To score against England at Twickenham was fantastic. It was a great maul by the forwards. Jonny Sexton then just came down the blindside 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."

Earls is relishing the break before Wales come to Croke Park and he insists the season is far from over.

"We have to leave Paris behind us now because there’s a still a Triple Crown to play for and there’s a couple of matches left. And we won’t give up on the championship. We’ll take each game as it goes.

"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 are 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. Thankfully there was a huge work-rate from our forwards to back us up."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 01, 2010