Earl relishing ‘bucket list’ Ellis Park clash against Springboks

ENGLAND No 8 Ben Earl says that playing the Springboks at Ellis Park will be a ‐bucket list‐ moment for him on Saturday in the Nations Championship opener in Johannesburg.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

The 50-cap Earl says he and his teammates cannot wait to tackle the world champions in their spiritual home.

‐Ellis Park is one of the grounds that when you play for your country, you want to play there,‐ Earl said. ‐Thankfully we have a chance to do that.

‐It is one of those bucket list moments for a lot of us,‐ Earl said. ‐To play the best team in the world in one of the best stadiums in the world is pretty cool.‐

The England team suffered their worst-ever Six Nations campaign earlier this year, but they signed off with a much-improved performance against France in Paris. They lost 48-46, and should have won the game but for a self-implosion in the dying seconds.