Jamie George has been left “gutted” that his unwanted England record remains intact.
The England hooker set a record for the longest Test career without an international start, with 18 consecutive replacement appearances before his full debut in November 2017.
His Saracens team-mate Ben Earl was quickly closing in on that mark, having racked up 15 caps off the bench since his 2020 Test bow.
And then head coach Steve Borthwick went and spoiled George’s fun, by naming Earl to start in Friday’s Rugby World Cup warm-up Test against Wales at Twickenham.
“Jamie George has the record of the most Test appearances off the bench without a start,” said Earl.
“I was only a few away from that. He’s a good mate of mine and he wasn’t the proudest to have that record and it’s been a bit of an ongoing record me closing in on that.
“So when he heard I was starting this weekend, I think he was quietly gutted.”
Earl first made the step to a senior England squad in 2018, but could never convince former head coach Eddie Jones of the qualities that so impress Saracens, and also made him Gallagher Premiership player of the season in 2022.
Now though he has forced his way into England’s 33-man Rugby World Cup squad, and right off the back of that won his first Test start.
“It was something that was playing on my mind for sure,” said Earl.
“With Steve coming in I’ve definitely felt a renewed bounce and encouragement that I was going in the right direction, even though the Six Nations didn’t go quite the way I wanted.
“It’s no secret that my history with England has been a bit bizarre.
“It’s not just been one clear, upward curve. I think you’d always question, and there have been times where you might think it’s not going to happen.
“But you just crack on, and that’s where I’ve been incredibly thankful to play for the club I do.
“It would be easy to sit and wallow, say your face doesn’t fit and not get better as a player. But the way the club is, that drives me on.
“It’s a massive relief that I am finally breaking the duck and starting this weekend, and I’m looking forward to it.”
England have lost three matches on the spin ahead of the clash with Wales.
Borthwick’s men slipped to a 20-9 defeat by Gatland’s side in Cardiff last weekend, in an error-strewn first hit-out after months of pre-season graft.
England could slip to a record low world ranking of ninth in defeat to Wales, but Borthwick has selected a potent starting line-up.
And Earl believes England are close to clicking.
“We are where we are, we didn’t have a great Six Nations, coming off an average autumn and there’s been a change of regime between the two,” said Earl.
“We’re training really well and competing hard, and it’s one of the best environments I’ve been in.
“It just feels like we’re on the edge of something. It might just take one game, it might take three games, it might take us to try and scrap our way out of the group and see what happens.
“But we’re trying really hard, the coaching has been brilliant and I hope we’ll come in with a bit of a surprise about how we do our work.
“Steve talks about not talking, but doing. And I think we’re right on the precipice of showing what we can do.
“There’s been a big challenge laid down by the coaching team and the players that it has to start transferring to the pitch. We know that.
“There’s an onus on us and it’s the privilege we’ve got to show that this weekend.”
