Keith Earls admits he’s a fan of ‘Slammin’ Sam: The Sam Burgess Story’

Earlsy was keeping up on his arts, culture and rugby league documentaries during his injury rehab

Keith Earls is back in his first Ireland team for the first time in, as he puts it, the bones of two years. The Munster back made his comeback from a knee injury in the Champions Cup turkey shoot against Sale Sharks and scored an excellent try in the process. A conglomeration of knocks, nicks and injuries have combined to see Earls miss Ireland's last 15 Test matches. He was named in the Ireland Wolfhounds team to face England Saxons on Friday and is eager to make up for lost time. He said, 'It’s great to put on the green jersey again... I'm happy with where I am at the moment, bar my lungs. I've only played 70 minutes in the last couple of weeks so I'm just getting back to the conditioning [of] my muscles and things.' Earls will partner Gordon D'Arcy in the Wolfhounds midfield and will come face-to-face with the Saxons duo of Elliot Daly [Wasps] and Sam Burgess. The Limerick native is a fan of Burgess, Bath's former rugby league star. He commented, 'I'm a big fan of Sam; I've watched the rugby league in Australia for a couple of years now. He has a documentary out as well, Slammin’ Sam (The Sam Burgess Story), that I watched. It was good. 'He’s a phenomenal athlete for someone who, at 26, has a lot done and there's a lot of excitement around him... The Saxons backline is fairly exciting. It’s going to be a tough task all-round.' For the uninitiated, here is Slammin' Sam in all its glory, replete with Russell Crowe at his most gruff and endearing: