Life in a bubble has taken its toll... we need a strong finish
GENGE WANTS TO SIGN OFF WITH A WIN OVER IRELAND
ELLIS GENGE has told of the mental toll rugby’s lockdown winter has taken on players shut away in a bubble for weeks on end.
And he warned Ireland that England fully intend to finish the Six Nations on a high this Saturday to ensure all their sacrifices are not in vain.
Leicester’s bleach-blond prop is into his eighth week in championship isolation, from which Red Rose players and staff have only twice emerged.
Before that they were shut away for long periods between October and December as rugby made up for time lost to the summer sports shutdown.
Genge said: “I’d be lying if I said it’s been easy to be in the same place, every day, for that amount of time. It’s taken its toll on people psychologically.”
Since late October England have played nine Tests in three tournaments. It would have been 10, but for the Barbarians’ Covid cancellation.
Although they won the 2020 Six Nations and the Autumn Nations Cup they must win in Dublin to avoid finishing outside the top four for only the second time in Six Nations history.
“Our view is we have sacrificed all these freedoms we usually have, so let’s pull together and make something out of it,” Genge said. “As opposed to letting the opportunity pass by. It’s hard being around so many people a lot of the time that you don’t necessarily want to be with.
“You want to get out and do stuff. I’ve a son at home and a dog, who I love dearly, who I can’t walk. Stuff like that. I want to see my family: my nieces, my mum, my nan, my friends. It’s a general thing.
“You’re always thinking about rugby, because you’re here at England camp. So it’s key to take that hour or two to wind down. Play computer, or get a social hit outside with a coffee.”
Genge admits it has been harder than he expected but is not looking for sympathy, appreciating many up and down the land have had an infinitely tougher time of it.
“Boys aren’t going around moaning that, ‘I don’t want to be in the bubble’,” he said. “Nobody wants to do that because you don’t want to sap and take away from the boys. We are all in it together.
“This group has invested in each other and we’ve all agreed to make this sacrifice together and now, quite late in the competition, we’re starting to see the benefits of that.”
England are, however, wary that Ireland will be an emotional force at the Aviva following CJ Stander’s announcement that this is to be his last Test. “They’ll want to send him off on a high,” said lock Jonny Hill. “From their point of view it’s about CJ going out with a bang.”
MARK WOOD once hit 123mph on the speed gun in the nets at Durham – only to find the radar was on the blink.
But he can now lay claim to the second-fastest delivery ever recorded by an England bowler after he was clocked at 96.3mph in Ahmedabad.
Radar, steady, go! Only his Ashington mentor and cheerleader Steve Harmison, who peaked at 96.8mph in the Champions Trophy final against West Indies at The Oval in 2004, has ever gone faster than Wood’s bouncer to Rohit Sharma on Tuesday. England can claim a notable Twenty20 scalp in India today by going 3-1 up in the five-match series against the World T20 hosts later this year.
And Wood’s fast show – short, sharp bursts of well-directed northern venom – has underscored England’s pace options in an Ashes year.
Only three men – Shoaib Akhtar (left), Shaun Tait and Brett Lee – have breached the 100mph barrier and Wood said: “No, I’ve never notched 100.
“Actually, that’s a lie,
I notched 123 on a speed gun at Durham when I was only half-running, so the gun was clearly broken.
“I don’t know if that counts or not? We occasionally use the speed gun when I’m coming back from injury to get a gauge on how much I need to keep progressing.
“But in the nets on tour or in training camp we don’t tend to use them that much. In training, I’d say you only bowl 80 or 90 per cent, anyway.”
In the current series, Wood has sent down two of England’s four fastest spells in
T20 internationals, averaging 91.22mph in the first match and 90.07mph in the third.
His bowling analysis was heading for the T20 equivalent of a masterpiece on Tuesday, after a matchwinning early burst reduced India to 24-3, until Indian captain Virat Kohli blotted his Rembrandt.
Wood added: “I’ll take the battering at the end in exchange for the early prizes. Actually, I thought I bowled a couple where I wanted and he just played good shots.
“Good players are allowed to do that, and I said to him (Kohli) at the end, ‘That first ball you hit for six was a hell of a shot’.
“He’s a fantastic player we try to get out early. This time we didn’t, but we were still pleased with the score we kept them to.”
Before the year is out, Wood could join a handful of England players in an exclusive club of World Cup winners over both 50 overs and the shortest format.
He admitted: “It would be something I would be extremely proud of. I’d love to be a part of that and it would be a fantastic achievement.
“I heard a colleague say the word ‘legacy’ the other day, and as a group it would be great to look back after your career and say we achieved it.”
Of the chance to seal a psychologically important win on Indian soil, Wood admitted: “We’re not going to take a backward step now.”