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Ben Earl may be taking his debut World Cup by storm but Maro Itoje insists his England team-mate raised eyebrows when he first arrived at Saracens.<\/p>\n
Earl has emerged as one of England\u2019s top performers during their canter into the quarter-finals with a group game to spare and he is competing with Billy Vunipola to start at number eight against Samoa on Saturday week.<\/p>\n
The dynamic back row was repeatedly overlooked by Eddie Jones despite being crowned Premiership Player of the season in 2022 and even under Steve Borthwick his 2023 Six Nations was cut short, with instructions to work on aspects of his game.<\/p>\n
It was not until the World Cup warm-up fixture against Wales at Twickenham last month that he was finally picked in the starting XV \u2013 three-and-a-half years after making his Test debut off the bench.<\/p>\n
Now his reputation is soaring through his potent carrying, impact in attack and spirited on-field celebrations \u2013 a far cry from the 18-year-old Itoje first encountered in 2016.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen Ben came to Saracens I thought \u2018who the hell is this guy?\u2019 He probably didn\u2019t give the best first impression!\u201d Itoje said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a young guy from Tonbridge and he had this floppy, public school hair. He was very sure of himself!<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been a nice guy, but you just thought \u2018who the hell\u2019s this guy?\u2019 But he\u2019s been great and he\u2019s worked at his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t had a linear path. He\u2019s had bumps, peaks and troughs along the way and he\u2019s grown and grown and grown into the player that he is today.<\/p>\n
When Ben came to Saracens I thought \u2018who the hell is this guy?\u2019 He probably didn\u2019t give the best first impression<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the stuff he\u2019s doing for England now we\u2019ve been seeing for a while at Saracens. And he\u2019s only 25, so he\u2019s only going to get better.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got great physical attributes but he\u2019s also very attentive, he wants to learn and he wants to improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough his journey you\u2019ve seen the toughness and the ruggedness to his spirit that he\u2019s kept on persevering.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo doubt he would have been a bit gutted because he would have thought he was playing really well and was deserving of a place, but for whatever reason he wasn\u2019t getting a look-in.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut he\u2019s stayed consistent with his performances and he\u2019s always had a great mindset and attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re consistent over a period of time, even when the proverbial tunnel looks dark, there is light there and he\u2019s shown that. We\u2019re only just beginning to see the fruits of his labour.\u201d<\/p>\n