Ben Earl has described his first tour with the British and Irish Lions as the “best thing he’s ever done by a mile”.

The back-rower has enjoyed a good start to his Lions career, with the nine defenders he beat against the Waratahs being the joint-most by a Lions forward since 2009.

His 21 carries in the same match, which the Lions won 21-10, were the second-most by a Lion since 2009.

Earl earned his spot in the squad after consistent performances for England over the past two years. Since 2023, the 27-year-old has played the full 80 minutes on 24 of his 26 England starts.

The tour has been a learning curve for Earl so far, but he is enjoying every second of it ahead of Saturday's meeting with an Australia and New Zealand XV.

“I can wholeheartedly tell you that it's like the best thing I've ever done by a mile,” said Earl.

“I've learned more in the last five weeks than I probably have in the last four years.

“This tour has taught me one thing, it's just turn up and play rugby. If I think too much about that, what good am I going to be?

“You actually don't need to do seven days of going into a monastery and coming out on a Saturday and being able to play. You just have to work out what you're good at and try and do it.”

Our team for Adelaide! #Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/SGsXKymUtS

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 10, 2025

Earl will start alongside Jac Morgan and Henry Pollock against the Australia and New Zealand Invitational XV, and he was full of praise for his team-mates.

Earl added: “Henry is far more talented than I am. Henry is double the player I am and will continue to do great things in the game.

“Jac Morgan has done some unbelievable things, look at some of the turnovers he took against the Reds - it takes a pretty brave man to make some of those turnovers.”