TOUR DE FORCE

BEN EARL is England's form player ahead of the tour to New Zealand The Saracens back-rower loves the club and is hungry for trophies So RW caught up with the man of the moment to dig a little deeper...

- JOSH GRAHAM

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.