Keith Earls on surprise video featuring friends and legends that had nearly everyone bawling

Patrick McCarry

“She caught me off guard with that one.”

For a guy that shies away from attention, whenever possible, Keith Earls was in the centre of it all, last week.

It was proper order, too, as he became only the ninth Irish player to reach 100 Test caps. Earls was stuck on 98 caps for over a year, after injury setbacks last season, but reached 100 after appearing against Italy and England in the World Cup warm-ups. During the win over England, on Saturday, he even added to his try-scoring tally – tumbling over the whitewash to bag his 36th for Ireland.

Asked if he had even half an eye on Brian O’Driscoll’s all-time record of 46, Earls cut to the chase:

“No, no, no. This could be the last one. You don’t know. Maybe if I was within four or five (tries) you might think about it, but I enjoyed today’s one.”

Keith Earls of Ireland celebrates after scoring his side’s fifth try against England, during the Bank of Ireland Nations Series at Aviva Stadium. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)

Keith Earls on ‘very emotional’ week

Having, at one stage back in May, feared his career might be over after a groin injury, Keith Earls was getting more an more anxious, sitting on 99 caps, as the Ireland game against England dragged on.

“I was saying to the lads, it was probably the worst week of my life with all the attention around the 100th cap.

“It’s hell sitting on the bench, nerve-wracking. In my head I was ‘Jesus, will he ever put me on? This will be very embarrassing after everything we’ve gone through’.”

The reaction of Andy Farrell, up in the coaches box, when Earls scored a try in the closing stages mirrored that of his Ireland teammates and the fans at Lansdowne Road – had there been a roof on the place, it would’ve lifted. Such was the outpouring.

Those days-long tributes can feel a bit valedictory and even embarrassing for players. You are getting clapped on the back for what you have done, but are desperate to prove you can still do what got you there in the first place. Earls will be elated that he was on the score-sheet, especially as those final World Cup calls will be tight.

In the lead-up to the game, Earls was shown the tribute piece that the IRFU put together and shared out, on Friday, featuring Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, and Peter O’Mahony. Ahead of that, his own wife, Edel, had another tear-jerker lined up. He was with the entire squad when that was played out. Earls recalled:

“The lads had my family in, on Thursday. My parents, my sister, my wife and my girls. My wife managed to get a video of a couple of people – Declan Kidney, Joe Schmidt, Drico (Brian O’Driscoll), Rory Scannell, Simon Zebo, Andrew Conway. It was a nice little 10-minute video and she caught me off guard with that one.

“I was very emotional. It was emotional, the hardest thing I’ve ever done, on Thursday, trying to keep the tears out of my eyes around all the lads but I think I managed to do it. So it was grand!”

Ahead of that game, Andrew Conway also spoke with us about Earls, and what his achievement meant.

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On the tribute videos, which also featured his old teammate and current coach Paul O’Connell, Keith Earls was simply blown away.

“We usually don’t open up about each other, like that” he said. “It was a rare thing to see – the lads getting emotional speaking about me. That was one of the incredible moments, along the way.”

On that tribute video featuring Zebo, Kidney, Schmidt & Co., we say – release the tape!