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England's Earl ready for Scotland 'curve balls' in Six Nations / Photo: © AFP
England's Earl ready for Scotland 'curve balls' in Six Nations
Ben Earl says England will be ready for any "curve balls" that come their way when they face Scotland in Saturday's Six Nations clash in Edinburgh.
England have won their opening two fixtures of the tournament, narrowly defeating Italy and Wales, while Scotland edged past the Welsh before losing narrowly to France.
Scotland, however, have dominated rugby union's oldest fixture in recent seasons, with Gregor Townsend's men bidding for a fourth successive win over England.
A hostile atmosphere at Murrayfield will come as no surprise to the visitors, but even before kick-off there could be attempts to unsettle Steve Borthwick's men if previous Calcutta Cup matches in Edinburgh are any guide.
England fly-half George Ford was targeted in the tunnel by Scotland's Ryan Wilson in 2018, sparking a brawl, with Owen Farrell intervening.
Other tactics used to disrupt England's preparations reportedly include turning off the hot water in the visitors' changing room and interference with their warm-up by pre-match entertainers.
But No. 8 Earl, set to continue in the back-row when England head coach Borthwick names his team on Thursday, was adamant the side could cope with whatever came their way.
"There's a resilience in us, for sure," he said. "There is a good group of experienced players in this team now -- Jamie (George), George Ford, Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Ellis Genge. Those guys are all different characters, but they've seen all the curve balls in the past.
"And then you've also got a group of lads who might not have played a load of Test rugby but who have played a lot of club rugby in some great games and in some great stadiums.
"So I'd say the group, in terms of expectation, is probably as prepared as any to deal with anything that's thrown at us."
The 26-year-old said he relished all the theatrics, while acknowledging the difficulties England had encountered against a talented Scotland team.
"You have to love it. If you don't love it, then you're playing the wrong sport at the wrong level, I absolutely love it," Earl added.
"It's a tough place to play and we've definitely touched upon the trend of results over the last three or four years."
O. Petrow--BTZ
