During England’s frustrating Autumn Nations Series campaign, one of the most vexing issues was the lack of physicality offered from the bench personnel. One man not used, despite his reputation for abrasion and power was Bath’s Charlie Ewels, a man with 31 caps, but also with the unenviable record of being the first England player to receive two red cards at Test level.
Nevertheless, the big lock is part of something special happening down at The Rec under Johann van Graan and, as their European campaign kicks off on Friday night against two-time champions La Rochelle, Ewels’ focus is clear and it’s evident he’s up for demonstrating his club form demands his re-inclusion at Test level.
“Look, this season we’re really prepared and focused for a powerful run in the Champions Cup,” he told Planet Rugby, exclusively.
“Last year, we did ourselves proud. We went as hard as we could and we learned a lot – not only about ourselves but just how hard it is to succeed against Europe’s elite. The match against Toulouse was a bit of a watershed for us – it was a brilliant match – one you remember for its excellence and one you feel proud to have been a part of. It demonstrated and confirmed to us we could be competitive – and I mean properly competitive, against the best club side in the world.
Ewels continued: “That was two good teams going at it, and yet they found a way to win. But actually, when we reviewed the performance, we knew that if we’d have done this a little bit differently, and that a little bit differently, then there’s little doubt we think we could have found a way to win that game. That that for me and I think for us as a group, was a bit of a turning point, particularly going away and doing that, and after beating Racing 92 at home as well, gave us the knowledge that we can compete in that elite arena.”
Dizzy heights
“Looking ahead to the weekend, Toulouse, Leinster and our opponents, La Rochelle, are the teams with the targets on their back and we’re there to shoot at them. We know all about their size – sure they’ve got some amazing athletes and some proven Test players, but I change next to our lads and I know that the likes of Will Stuart and Thomas du Toit are every bit as powerful as they are, and I know that our lads want to get out there and give it to them.
“But that size of player brings challenges, for sure. It’s not the head on raw power that is the focus, it’s making sure you’re winning the battle of height – so you’re hitting low in tackle and breakdown, faster and with more agility, to get under them and win the collision – that’s about concentration and technique, not poundage.
“Obviously we’ve seen it in Test rugby with the South Africans and the pack that they’re able to name – well, two packs really,” Ewels chuckled. “And we’ve learned that if someone’s bigger, then you’ve just got to be technically better. You’ve got to be technically spot on for 80 minutes. As I said, you won’t get away with being high – you’ll get found out. Whether that be in a scrum, whether that being a maul, whether that being a breakdown, a carry, wherever. Sometimes, if you’re playing someone who’s the same size as you, and you find yourself a little bit high or out of shape in the moment, you might find a way to sort of wrestle out of it. That won’t happen this weekend.
“But that doesn’t stop us being us and we’re not tearing up any game plan. We’re not going to suddenly become the Bath Sevens team and run the ball from all corners; we’ll look to control and play where we want to play.
“As one of the senior leaders I’ll be telling the lads that it’s about sticking to those basics, sticking to your own DNA. Asking ourselves what makes Bath special? 100% I’ll say play your own game and keep it simple, that’s key. What’s great about this group is the bigger the game, the bigger the occasion, the simpler we will make the game plan.
“So my message will be play the style that we’ve been playing on this journey with Johann for two and a half years. Just play that game to the best of our ability, to the best that we can, at the maximum intensity that we can and then the rest will take care of itself.”
Bulls – learning on the job
With Ewels receiving his second red card of his career on England‘s summer tour of 2024 following his sending off against Ireland in 2022, the lock felt he needed just to get away from it all, out of the spotlight, looking to develop his abilities and to put the Test dismissals behind him.
With Van Graan a former Bulls man, the offer to play in Pretoria in the incredible rugby academy there was an offer too good to turn down for the abrasive Ewels and off he went to one of the toughest and biggest forward finishing schools in the world – the magnificent Loftus Versfeld and the historic Bulls, one of the greatest sides in the history of rugby.
The Bath lock played six matches in his time out there, but he came back fitter, more physical but, most of all, enlightened about the sheer depth of rugby in South Africa.
“After the disappointments of the cards, I felt I needed to re-energise, to get myself into an environment where I could grow and learn more. Challenge myself, if you like,” he said.
“And I learned a hell of a lot! It was eye-opening, the sheer depth of rugby in Pretoria and around the Bulls. Now, there was a language barrier as I was probably the only player who favoured English as my first language, but the welcome was amazing. Obviously, the language was a bit of a culture shock, because here I’d say we’re very multicultural. In all the Premiership teams, there’s English, Welsh, Scottish, South Africans, Samoan, Tongan, French, Argentina, everything – so there’s always a mix in all the teams, but to go there and them almost just be a solely South African team, and me the token Pom, was initially quite surprising.
“But then you wander around Loftus, the trophy room, the panelled walls with names of Boks old and new, and you realise you’re in a rugby cathedral, one where excellence is simply the norm and their strength is their production line of local and hugely physical talent.
“The professionalism and the size of the organisation, backroom staff and player groups were staggering; whether it be S&C specialists, physios, skill coaches, we were stacked with people supporting our playing journey.
“But overall, it was squad depth that impressed me most of all. At the training centre there’s three or four full sized pitches. On one pitch, we’d have a development squad, all contracted; on the other there’d be the Currie Cup players, then on another the EPCR and URC players and so on, all the personnel desperate to be ‘promoted’ from one pitch to the other. There were five Springboks in my group – hardened legends of the sport, and I was absolutely blown away by the commitment and the excellence of the environment.
“I asked the development players and coaches about intake – ‘how many have you signed this year from schools etc?’ ‘About 56, 57 was the reply’. I was staggered. We might manage seven or eight per season at Bath, and we pride ourselves at our local development programme, but this was next level!
“I went to a schools game to watch Grey College, one of the great rugby academies – the roads were closed, there was around 6,000 people watching, with encyclopaedic knowledge of their youngsters. I think I played a Currie Cup game the day after and we only had 5,000 for that, so it really brought it home to me about the depth of culture they have in Pretoria and the Bulls system, and I think I emerged a lot better player and thinker on the sport as a result of my trip,” Ewels confirmed.
Looking ahead
With Ewels admitting he’s very much at peace with disappointment at not getting a go during the Autumn Nations Series, all focus now is on Bath, the Premiership and of course, Europe. With two campaigns in front of him, the lock is comfortable with the tasks ahead, believing that international honours will become a self-fulfilling prophecy should he deliver the goods with his club.
“For sure, there’s a few drivers; there’s stuff I’d absolutely love to achieve here. The Premiership and Europe are obvious goals and they would mean the world to both us and me personally,” he confirmed.
“I’ve been here for a long time and seen some ups and downs and in betweens on the way, to where we are now. We have the opportunity to be part of a group that could go and create some sort of modern history for Bath, a club like the Bulls that’s steeped in rugby history.
“And of course more Test matches for England is a key driver – but Bath is my vehicle for that and I refuse to get ahead of myself. The more you play this crazy sport, the more you realise that we play the ultimate team sport. Yes, there are some unbelievable individuals in our sport, but we are all so reliant on each other to achieve anything. And for anyone to have any success in our game, you need the 14 or 22, other guys in the matchday squad to be part of that. So absolutely, focusing on me playing as well as I possibly can for Bath is the only way that anything else can ever happen on a personal level.
“So Bath has to be my soul driving force. And I’m lucky that the way we play as a team puts me in something of a spotlight, but I won’t lose focus of the things that are important and that starts once again this weekend against La Rochelle.”
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/charlie-ewels-eager-to-use-bath-form-as-vehicle-to-england-success-after-being-blown-away-by-stint-at-south-african-side
