'Eddie calls him sardines. I don't know why' - Ellis Genge breathlessly describes the personality of each of England's props
Ellis Genge went all Reservoir Dogs to introduce rugby fans to the England props for this year’s Guinness Six Nations, the Leicester loosehead appearing in an episode of Inside Line, the mini English documentary series, to give a rundown on the various No1s and No3 at the disposal of Eddie Jones.
The England coach is a great admirer of the different personalities he has to pick from, claiming: “The thing I love about our props is they are so diverse. Looseheads and tightheads have always been traditionally a little bit different. Tightheads traditionally were a more introverted and looseheads more extroverted but with our group of players it’s a little bit different.”
How different is something England squad regular Genge proceeded to explain in a humorous fashion. “Here at England, we have some very fruity individuals, especially in the front row and amongst the props who all have different aliases. Why not do some music, like the beat of Reservoir Dogs?
“First up you have got Harry Williams, The Conspiracist, sits in his room with tin foil on his head and a magnet in his mouth. And then you have got Tom West, The Foodie, AKA Westie. Apparently, he is related to John West, the owner of the tuna company. Eddie calls him sardines. I don’t know why.
“Then you have got Beno (Obano), AKA Benzs, AKA Cynic, the musical one. Used to be a rap artist out of South London. Now he is a pirate from Bath. Eddie calls him that because he had a gold earring and wore a bandana once. I thought he was because he had a wooden leg.
The Chiefs tighthead won his first cap in 18 months last Saturday at Twickenham, but is now surplus to requirement #SixNations #ENGvSCO #GallagherPremhttps://t.co/gR9DvE9SLK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 10, 2021
“Then you have got Will Stuart, AKA Stuey. Used to have a sick mullet like me… Then you have got Mako (Vunipola), The Experienced One. Apparently, he has seen more action than Pierce Brosnan in a movie trailer. And then you have got Sincks (Kyle Sinckler), The Loud One. AKA Kitchen, AKA Daddy.
“Then you have got me, Gengey, the brains behind the organisation. Handsome, best gamer, best rig, best chat, fastest, strongest, smells the best, best cook, best lid… are we still recording?”
With Genge’s musical tribute over, Williams, who played off the bench last week against Scotland before being released back to Exeter, added: “It would be dull if everyone was just the exact same. I couldn’t tell you for what reason but the front row seems to invite more individuals to it as opposed to other positions in the team.”
Obano, who appeared off the bench versus the Scots to make his Test debut, said: “My theory comes back to the idea that the props we see now were probably bigger than everyone else when they were a child and when you are bigger your interactions with people are just a little bit different… it’s odd that there is such a group of us that is just a bit different to everyone else.”
England will start the suspension-free Sinckler and the fit-again Vunipola against Italy this Saturday having begun last week’s defeat with Stuart and Genge. Scrum coach Matt Proudfoot also had his say in the video clip about the characters in the English front row.
“My experience in coaching front row, you need to empower their personalities to come out. The more you can you free up their personalities the more they can perform as who they are and you harness their strengths rather than get them to fit a particular mould,” he explained.
“The world tends to think of a prop as being this beer-drinking, jovial character but a lot of them are quite deep thinkers, a lot of them are really focused on a lot of other aspects of life. When they need to play in the front row and scrum against the opposition it’s man against man… and if he is not confident in his character that is going to show up.
“You always have to get them on the edge emotionally, mentally, physically, you have got to get them on the edge to perform and be ready to train. So that switch of when they are off they can be off and relax a bit and laugh.
“That is where the history of the front row club comes together because they know what they have to go through to get ready so when it is time to get boots on again they switch on and you can see them taking this metamorphosis that it is on. It’s time to work now.”
"We're only worried about ourselves. We're not too worried about Italy"
– The 5?? England changes explained #SixNations #ENGvITAhttps://t.co/3uxR981KYn
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 11, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments