Outspoken player welfare advocate Ellis Genge to skipper Leicester for first time
Outspoken player welfare advocate Ellis Genge will be happy his opinions during the lockdown have certainly not damaged his standing at Leicester, as he will captain the club for the first time when they visit Wasps in the Gallagher Premiership on Wednesday.
The England loosehead had spent the initial part of the 2019/20 season’s suspension putting together plans for a new players union, Rugby Players Epoch.
However, he became disillusioned with the laborious challenge of having to individually negotiate with all 13 stakeholder Premiership clubs and shelved the idea on June 19, just weeks before the turmoil which existed across the top-flight game in England filtered down into the Leicester set-up.
Amid rancour over the temporary 25 per cent pay cut becoming permanent, Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, Noel Reid, Greg Bateman and Kyle Eastmond all quit the Tigers. By July 8, though, Genge has secured a contract extension at the club after he agreed to the proposed salary reduction.
Now, nine weeks later, Genge will skipper Leicester for the first time in what will be his 74th appearance for the club. He is joined by Jake Kerr and Nephi Leatigaga in the front row.
I learnt from the best El Toro https://t.co/bJHJTPxrcY
— Gengey (@EllisGenge) September 6, 2020
Cameron Henderson makes his first starting appearance at lock after arriving at the club in the summer and will partner Blake Enever in the second row. In the back row, Ollie Chessum is named at blindside, Thom Smith at openside and Jordan Coghlan at No8.
Zack Henry starts at fly-half in his fourth appearance for Tigers, partnering Ben White at half-backs. Guy Porter is included at centre alongside Dan Kelly in his first start, with Harry Simmons and Harry Potter on the wings and George Worth at full-back.
Leicester boss Steve Borthwick said: “With a short turnaround, we have made changes and provided opportunities for some players who did not feature against Sale. Ellis will captain the club for the first time and has been brilliant in the build-up this week, leading the group.
“This group of players have earned the privilege of representing the club on Wednesday and, with all Tigers teams, need to deliver a performance the club and our supporters are proud of.”
Fresh from their win at 2019 champions Saracens, high-flying Wasps welcome back Kieran Brookes from the shoulder injury he sustained in the first restart game last month against Northampton.
Newly promoted first-team squad member, 19-year-old Alfie Barbeary, is named at blindside for his first Premiership start, and there is one potential Wasps debutant in the 23 as new signing Levi Douglas is named as a replacement.
Charlie Atkinson, who was on the receiving end of the red-carded Owen Farrell tackle at Allianz Park, doesn’t feature.
WASPS: 15. Matteo Minozzi; 14. Zach Kibirige, 13. Malakai Fekitoa, 12. Ryan Mills, 11. Marcus Watson; 10. Jacob Umaga, 9. Dan Robson; 1. Tom West, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. Kieran Brookes, 4. Joe Launchbury (capt), 5. James Gaskell, 6. Alfie Barbeary, 7. Thomas Young, 8. Brad Shields. Reps: 16. Tom Cruse, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19. Levi Douglas, 20. Jack Willis, 21. Sam Wolstenholme, 22. Jimmy Gopperth, 23. Sam Spink.
LEICESTER: 15. George Worth; 14. Harry Potter, 13. Dan Kelly, 12. Guy Porter, 11. Harry Simmons; 10. Zack Henry, 9. Ben White; 1. Ellis Genge (capt), 2. Jake Kerr, 3. Nephi Leatigaga, 4. Cameron Henderson, 5. Blake Enever, 6. Ollie Chessum, 7. Thom Smith, 8. Jordan Coghlan. Reps: 16. Charlie Clare, 17. Facundo Gigena, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Harry Wells, 20. Sam Lewis, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Johnny McPhillips, 23. Andrew Forsyth.
"I've watched it on TV on Monday on my own, no hidden agenda – that's a f**kin' bad tackle"
– The Rugby Pod's Jim Hamilton has had his say on the weekend's major talking point https://t.co/5zsj9tU2jX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 8, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Brayden 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 commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to comments