Our diverse team can finally bury the notion that rugby is just for posh white kids

WATCHING Ellis Genge’s barnstorming run against the United States reminded me of a bull being released out of its cage. It was a memorable image from a satisfying night for England and one that sets them up well with maximum points from their two games.

It’s really good to see young guys like Genge, Lewis Ludlam and Joe Cokanasiga thriving at a World Cup and visibly enjoying themselves so much.

It’s also really good to see black role models like those guys showing that rugby union is not just for posh white kids.

To me England means opportunity – opportunity no matter what your background or where you live and I think this team represent that.

When I played at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, I was the only black player in the England squad that won the tournament.

Eddie Jones has 11 such players in his squad this time around.

If there are people who look like you doing a certain job then that makes it seem all the more attainable for you.

You still have to work just as hard to get there but it does give you belief you can get there.

That doesn’t just apply to rugby – it’s relevant in all walks of life.

I actually watched Thursday’s game in the company of some of the Leeds Jamaican community including the city’s first black Lord Mayor Eileen Taylor.

When I was growing up in Leeds and setting out on my journey in rugby league, I had a ready-made idol in Ellery Hanley.

I’m half-Jamaican (and halfScottish) so for me I was naturally drawn to him. I know Maro Itoje has spoken about how important for him it was to see Topsy Ojo – someone from a Nigerian background like him – playing the game at the top level.

If you run through this England squad there are guys from so many different backgrounds – African, Afro-Caribbean, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and in the case of Ludlam, below, Palestinian/Guyanese. Rugby union in this country should not think it has diversity cracked yet. Have a look around the corridors of power and the committee rooms and see how many black faces are around. Not many. Until the whole of the game reflects the multicultural society we are, then it remains a work in progress. Still, we are on the move on the field and that is good to see.

I think there is a big opportunity for the RFU to use the guys that will be all over our TV screens for the next few weeks to drive even more diversity in the game. Rugby union didn’t really come on to my radar when I was young because I didn’t think it was for working-class kids like me.

The RFU need to work to change that perception.

Players like Genge and Kyle Sinckler are perfect fits to be ambassadors in the inner-city areas of Bristol and south London they emerged from. I do some work in London and at home in Yorkshire bringing sport to primary school children in deprived areas.

It’s not just rugby, it’s lots of different sports.

I tell them my story of where I came from and where I got to. I bring along my World Cup winners’ medal and a picture of the boarded-up terraced house in Leeds where I used to live.

I see kids that were me 40 years ago. I can talk to them from experience because I know what it is like to have nothing.

I know now I should never have felt inferior and these children shouldn’t do either.

Inspiration and opportunity make for a powerful combination.

The boys in Japan are the heroes to inspire them. All they need from there is to be given a chance.