Owen Farrell and Ben Earl appeared on the For The Love of Rugby podcast this week at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as they got a good look at the ground ahead of The Showdown 6 against Northampton Saints on Saturday, March 28.<\/p>\n
Hosted as always by Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, the duo questioned the Saracens pair on various topics, including Earl\u2019s ability to play in the centres, and of course, Henry Pollock.<\/p>\n
Earl had a simple response to a potential hybrid role, claiming that he\u2019d be comfortable in attack, but well out of his depth in defence, telling an anecdote that when he played in the centre for England, he asked George Ford how to defend, and was told simply: \u201cTackle them if they run at you, but if not then just swim out.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this in mind, it sounds very much like the Saracens<\/a> star will be sticking in the back-row for the foreseeable future, with Earl even admitting that he\u2019s become rather fond of playing at number eight.<\/p>\n No more knee sliding for Earl<\/p>\n In the England set-up, he\u2019s been joined recently by the inevitable Pollock, who appears to have taken the heat off Earl.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old came under much scrutiny a few years ago for his knee sliding reactions to simple set play and turnover wins. Opposition fans ridiculed him for his reactions, particularly when England were performing poorly.<\/p>\n But now, it\u2019s Pollock making the most noise, and his actions have overtaken the \u201cmellowed\u201d Earl<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ve mellowed out a little bit on that [the knee celebration]. He\u2019s taking it to somewhere else, somewhere I don\u2019t really want to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is, like, one of those, though. Like, he whoops and hollers, and then like you go and get in his face and he\u2019s like, \u2018I didn\u2019t mean it. I didn\u2019t mean it.\u2019 It\u2019s like, \u2018come on, mate.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, he\u2019s bringing a new energy to everything, and rubbing people up in a certain kind of way. But I love it when he\u2019s on my team, that\u2019s, for sure. Absolute pain in the a*** to play against.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll see how long he keeps doing it for, because at the moment, it\u2019s working for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Who\u2019s hot and who\u2019s not: Four-try wing \u2018sends message\u2019 after Six Nations snub while three coaches \u2018under pressure\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Owen Farrell x Henry Pollock room sharing<\/p>\n