Ellis Genge reveals England squad's heaviest bench presser after Maro Itoje is quizzed online

Ellis Genge has revealed that Beno Obano can bench press the most in the England squad after an online question put to Maro Itoje resulted in the second row being unsure which player topped the weight lifting list. Itoje broke up his preparations for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations match against Wales in Cardiff by hosting an #askMaro session on Twitter where he replied by video to a series of questions posed by fans. 

One England supporter asked: “Who can bench the most in the squad?” Itoje, though, couldn’t provide a definitive answer, replying: “I think it is probably between Beno and Genge and Kyle Sinckler. I’m not exactly sure who is the top dog.”

After seeing Itoje’s answer, England loosehead Genge tweeted: “Hate to say it, Beno’s got this one. We rarely do 1 rep max but Benz is pushing 5 sets of 5 reps 160kg with ease… I’d say he’s getting up 190-200 for 1 or 2.” It’s the latest nugget from Genge regarding the England front row as he also breathlessly described the personality of each of England’s props a few weeks ago.

Nigel Owens guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload with Simon Zebo and Ryan Wilson

Nigel Owens guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload with Simon Zebo and Ryan Wilson

Aside from talking about bench pressing, Itoje spoke about the best player he played against, his most unforgettable moments, his advice to a younger Maro, and the biggest influence in his rugby career.    

“I would say the best player I played against in the Six Nations was probably Sergio Parisse back in the day, around 2016. What he means to Italian rugby and what he has done has been incredible. Sergio is definitely up there with the best I have played against.

Hate to say it, Beno’s got this one. https://t.co/QGLW0fWRcV

— Gengey (@EllisGenge) February 24, 2021

“There are loads of moments during games that I will probably never forget,” he added. “Us winning trophies etc, they are all moments that you will never forget, but I think the truly invaluable thing is the time you spend with your teammates. The quality of people we have here and across the different teams I have played against has been special.

“Signing my first professional contract with Saracens, that was special and getting my first cap for England was also special. I can list a whole number of other ones but I will probably stay with those two.

“In terms of advice I would give to myself as a younger child, I wouldn’t actually give any advice because there is a lot of value in experiencing things and learning from things and that holds some weigh, so in terms of advice I wouldn’t give any because life experiences are the best lesson. 

“My parents have the biggest influence on my rugby career because they could have stopped me from playing rugby pretty early. If they stopped me playing rugby I probably wouldn’t be here today so my parents since then have shown a lot of support and my family has supported me wherever in the world I play rugby.

@RugbyPass coming in with the goods just in time to watch all your super rugby games.. weekends are sorted!!. https://t.co/oGxHXVnuP5 ❤️👏🏾 #code #leeesgooo

— nemzy (@nemani_nadolo) February 25, 2021