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Ben Earl admits to the time his celebrations became 'too much'
By Josh Raisey
Ben Earl has made it quite clear that he is not going to stop with his renowned in-match celebrations.
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The England and Saracens back-row is notorious for his energetic responses to penalties won and mistakes made by the opposition, and has faced a fair amount of ridicule for it. That ridicule has died down in recent months and he has doubled down on his behaviour.
With that said, the 26-year-old recently admitted that there was a time when his celebrations were “too much”.
Joining his former England team-mate Danny Care on the Hits Different podcast, the No 8 confessed that his reaction to Ireland’s not-straight throw in a 29-10 loss prior to the 2023 World Cup was perhaps over the top, but he has an explanation.
The moment in question saw Earl drop to his knee while pumping his fist after a crooked Irish throw, and he was subsequently lampooned online his his actions. But the 37-cap international has admitted that it was not “deliberate”.
Discussing whether fans are wrong to hate in-game ‘over-celebrations’ in the ‘Debatable’ section of the podcast, both Earl and Care agreed that they have both a positive effect on a team doing it and irritate the opposition, although the scrum-half had some choice words about ‘whooping’. Earl explained why he does it, and will continue to do so.
“I’ve got one of the great fist-pumps of our time,” Earl said.
“The knee slide was too much. So let’s actually put some context on this, and it’s nice to have my face to the clip, it was an Ireland warm-up game and we’re getting absolutely hosed, we’re five metres from our line, we’re so up against it and they throw a not-straight, which was quite dubious, and I’ve gone for a split-stance fist-pump and my knee has completely caved in, hence why I’ve gone down.
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“I’ve tried to ride it out by bringing the other one down as well, and then it’s gone viral. It wasn’t deliberate and I haven’t done it since.”
Personally, I'd like Borthwick to impose a ban on any England player celebrations outside of the opposition 22. You have to earn the right to start whooping it up. If you can't control your emotions, then how can you control the game?
Somebody once said something about plastic moments and plastic celebrations. Rings true
I'd rather the energy went into actually playing, not screaming at the opposition at the tops of their voices. Emotional "highs" are fleeting, questionable in terms of motivation, and, imho, disrespectful to opponents. I suspect many opposition players are quietly motivated by these antics as well.
At all levels the game is about momentum and there is something to be said for celebrating those penalties and errors as they can mark shifts in momentum.
Sadly, as an England fan, there have been too many times in recent years when I've watched us have an open top bus parade and a medal ceremony when we get a penalty in our 22 and then shank the touch finder or make an absolute balls up the line out and just hand the momentum back to the opposition.
When all we're celebrating is opposition mistakes or borderline breakdown penalties then it is really hollow and fragile and becomes, to quote Bongi Mbonambi "plastic energy"
Well when you win so infrequently, all the while marching down the rankings at a rate of knots, you may as well celebrate those little moments. Make the most of it and such.