'It’s complete b******s': Ellis Genge does not hold back as he ridicules notions of loyalty in rugby... and Leicester prop has England coach Eddie Jones in his crosshairs too
- Ellis Genge hit out at former club Bristol for hiding behind facade of loyalty
- Prop is frustrated with Eddie Jones over bit-part role with England at World Cup
- Leicester star insists rugby needs to do more to attract all social backgrounds
- Genge returned to Bristol before Christmas to help at children's hospital
Ellis Genge talks like he plays. There’s no holding back. He takes no prisoners. Anyone convinced that rugby is losing its characters and its capacity for searing honesty, prepare for a re-think.
Leicester’s 24-year-old England prop has just signed a new contract, so this interview was due to start gently, with an invitation for him to express satisfaction at sorting out his immediate future, after a difficult period of speculation and deliberation.
Instead, it swiftly moved on to a discussion about loyalty.
Ellis Genge has signed a new contract with the Leicester Tigers but has hit out at rugby loyalty
The prop spoke to Sportsmail's Chris Foy exclusively at the club's training ground
Genge opened fire on his home-town club — Bristol, Saturday’s visitors to Welford Road — who were rumoured to want him back, and clubs in general, for viewing players as commodities.
‘It’s b******s,’ he said, about the notion of loyalty in rugby. ‘It’s complete b******s.
‘It’s all a facade. It’s a business now. (Bristol coach) Pat Lam did an interview saying he wants Bristolians who’ve played for England and are at other clubs to come home to Bristol. He didn’t want that. That was a facade.
‘You hear things from other clubs, saying they want this player or that player to stay, or they want to keep their home-grown talent, but clubs aren’t really interested in that now. The league is too volatile. Everyone just wants to win.
‘As a player, you have to just look after yourself. If I wake up tomorrow and I can’t play rugby again, I’m sure these lot (Leicester) will look after me to a degree, but in six months’ time… I’ve seen it with players in the past. Nobody gives a f***. Let’s be real.
Genge did not hold back as he rubbished loyalty, insisting clubs want to win any way they can
Genge had been linked with a move back to his hometown of Bristol who he faces on Saturday
‘It’s a business, so you have to be cut-throat and you have to look after yourself.
‘At the same time, I’ve been here three-and-a-half seasons and I would like to stay here for the rest of my career. I like the club and I like the people.’
Genge was into his stride and, as is the case when he is ball-carrying, he takes some stopping.
He joked about being banned by Leicester from doing any media interviews for the last year — ‘I had that in writing. I won’t talk about that…’
But he does talk. Passionately and powerfully, on all manner of subjects. He has opinions and is quite willing to share them.
Genge is especially fired-up about players being discouraged from showing a glimpse of their true character.
‘I get upset when people think we should always be the most clean-cut versions of ourselves,’ he said. ‘They have to understand that the environment we’re in isn’t the norm and it is tough to adapt to normal society.
Since joining the Tigers from Bristol in 2016, Genge has made 68 appearances
‘There’s no a**e-slapping and c**k-grabbing in normal work-places, is there? If you went to Welford Road and did that, you’d get fired, but in a rugby club, that’s what goes on. People don’t see that from the outside. You show a glimpse of personality and you get punished, but they forget that you’re putting your head in a ruck every weekend.’
There was a recent example which antagonised Genge.
Before the Tigers’ encounter with Exeter at Welford Road last month, it was reported that he had written a letter to rival prop and England team-mate Harry Williams, warning him to expect trouble. The Chiefs fought back to beat Leicester and Genge was mocked about the letter on social media. But the whole thing was a hoax — and he didn’t appreciate the abuse that came his way.
‘Do you honestly think I wrote a letter to Harry?’ he asked, incredulous. ‘It was just a bit of craic. I got interviewed and didn’t know what to say, so I said I wrote Harry a letter and he knows what’s coming.
Following a defeat by Exeter Chiefs Genge admits he was left wound up by social media posts
‘People take it seriously. It winds me up that I’ve got f***ing idiots tweeting me after the game — “What did your letter say, ‘We’re going to give you a bonus point away from home?’”. There are people out there who are so small-minded. That’s what restricts rugby union from getting any bigger.
‘If people were allowed to just be themselves, you’d see a lot more characters come out of their shell and you’d see more talent come through because academy kids wouldn’t be so shy.
‘I’m 24 years old and if I want to say something, I’m going to say it. I’m not shy.’
He’s not shy and Genge is probably also not what many imagine him to be. On the field he is a bull on the loose. A tough, aggressive, glaring, intimidating figure. That may be where the perceptions end, but there is more to him than that. He is a character of multiple layers.
‘A lot of people make a judgment but they’ve never met me,’ he said. ‘All they see is me trying to be horrible to people on the pitch, but that’s what I get paid to do. I’m horrible to Sinks (Kyle Sinckler) and he’s one of my best mates. If he had the opportunity, he’d be horrible back to me.
Genge admitted on the pitch he is 'horrible' to even his best mates including Kyle Sinckler
‘Look at (Joe) Marler. I like him a lot but he’s a d***head on the field. Fact. Coley (Dan Cole) is one of his best mates and they were abusing each other on the pitch last weekend. It’s a game. Are you telling me you’ve never cheated at Monopoly? I’m not saying cheat at rugby, but I’m just saying people play differently and you play games to win.’
Just to illustrate how there is more to Genge than meets the eye, he spent time before Christmas at a children’s hospital and a charity kitchen back in Bristol, handing out gifts, drinks and biscuits, and chatting to disadvantaged members of the city’s community.
His only frustration was that he wasn’t allowed to do more to help, because there were already so many volunteers.
He is at pains to play it all down, saying: ‘I wasn’t exactly Clarke Kent’ and ‘It doesn’t make me a Good Samaritan’. But it does make him someone with a heart and a degree of empathy. ‘When I was younger, we were skint,’ he said. ‘We struggled at times and I’ve got a decent amount of cash now, so giving back to people who aren’t as fortunate as me makes me feel better about myself. I just feel it’s the right thing to do.’
Eddie Jones often expresses a desire for rugby in this country to break through old social barriers, in order to fulfil its potential.
The England prop was left frustrated at head coach Eddie Jones for only featuring as a bit part player at the recent World Cup held in Japan
Genge though did come off the bench and impressed in wins over Tonga and the USA (above)
In that regard, the England head coach identifies Genge and Sinckler as inner-city champions, working-class heroes capable of having a transformative impact on the sport by showing that it can be for people from all backgrounds.
Genge feels that there is a long way to go before the barriers come down. ‘People can’t play rugby on the estates, because you can’t tackle people on concrete,’ he said. ‘I still think it’s a posh sport, especially in the south. I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon. I’d love to be a big marker for that change, but I don’t go round hating on private education. If I was given the opportunity to go back, I’d probably take it myself. I might get some GCSEs!’
There is now a tattoo of a sumo wrestler on his foot. It is a memento of his trip to Japan and role in England’s World Cup. Genge came off the bench twice, against Tonga and the USA, before Mako Vunipola’s return to fitness meant he was forced into the role of frustrated observer.
So did he accept the demotion? ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’d done all right and the France game would have been a good opportunity for me, but it got cancelled. Then he (Jones) chose Mako and Marler and they did a really good job.
With team-mates Billy Vunipola and Luke Cowan-Dickie, Genge reflects following England's disappointing World Cup final defeat by South Africa
‘They’re good blokes, so I’ve got no venom towards them, but I made it very clear to Eddie and the other coaches how I felt. I could have played a good role.’
For now, before the Six Nations comes around, priorities are more parochial. Genge has committed his future to Leicester and wants to help the Tigers avoid another struggle for survival. He has agreed to stay because he has been convinced that there are changes afoot at the East Midlands club — not before time.
‘Leicester’s biggest enemy over the last few years is that we didn’t change as a club,’ he said. ‘You have to move with the times. Look at businesses; they go under if they stay the same.
‘I was thinking the other day about Mothercare. How big was Mothercare back in the day? If you needed baby wipes, you went to Mothercare. Now it’s gone.
‘We needed to change at this club and that is being done. We have good players and coaches here. When we start singing off the same hymn sheet, watch what happens.’
Saturday’s clash with Bristol is vital for Leicester but not as personal for Genge as it once was.
‘I used to have a vendetta, but I don’t now,’ he said.
‘I’m over it. I don’t see myself as a Bristol player any more — I’m a Leicester Tiger. Bristol blood, Leicester skin.’
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