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Genge 'fully at it' as England assistant gives verdict on Vunipola replacement options
By Online Editors
Ellis Genge took a full part in England training on Friday to ease fears over his availability for the Guinness Six Nations title clash with Wales on February 23.
Genge, the Leicester prop, was forced to withdraw from a session at the squad’s London camp on Thursday because of an ankle injury but has since made a rapid recovery.
“Ellis went fully at it today (Friday) – live set piece, live scrums. He trained and did the whole session,” assistant coach Neal Hatley said.
“He’s responded unbelievably well to treatment last night and charged through training today.”
Genge’s fitness has taken on greater importance after Mako Vunipola was ruled out of the remainder of the Six Nations because of ankle ligament damage that struck against France last Sunday.
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Watch: England team train during Six Nations week off.
Vunipola was a marauding presence in the first two rounds of the Championship and his injury has robbed England of their most effective forward.
Into the void created in the number one jersey must step either Genge or Ben Moon, both of whom are Test rookies but have also acquitted themselves well in the international future.
“We saw over the autumn that Moon is a glue player. He does the basics very, very well and he allows the rest of the team to operate around him,” Hatley said.
“His set-piece was very good during the autumn and he defended exceptionally well. We all saw the hit on Duane Vermeulen in the South Africa game.
“Ellis is also very aggressive. He’s an aggressive scrummager. He has a good ball carrying threat and is explosive. He moves off the line quickly.
“What Mako does for this team can’t be understated, but we’re excited about getting a good 80 minutes at loosehead prop against Wales.”
Press Association
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Latest Comments
33, unlikely?
It’s actually an interesting question, how does his RL career impact you perception of his ‘rugby age’?
I’d imagine he’s fresher than a 26 yo rugby player, he’s fitting and done more k’s, but had less impacts (unsure of his injuries).
Anyway, your conclusion doesn’t really hit the mark. What you’ve not asked yourself is would he be better at 33, with 6 years under his belt, than 28/9, and only 2 years experience. If he really is considering it a major goal of course, he may just want an Olympic medal and leave etc.
Still, in relation to your topic, what I suspected would be his thinking is the ever increasing value in playing in Japan. Perhaps he’d try and give this first WC a go, trying to make it in the All Blacks, obviously playing Super Rugby, then he’d take a much bigger contract in Japan? Learn how to run around people with better accuracy and consistency (rofl), and then return to NZ as an improved player to Australia 2027, with the hope to fine tune further and make the most of his marketability in the bonanza that America 2031 is going to leave behind. 33 is still prime earning age and who knows what the MLR market is going to be like them, if teams have started to have major backers etc.
It’s all about the money afterall (yes, I wasn’t referring to his ability re USA31’)!
Go to commentsNo, just an overly zealous fan who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
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