GENGE NOSE HOW TO GET HIS PAYBACK

RED ROSE DAY: Genge leads the charge

ELLIS GENGE could forgive but not forget having his nose ‘ splatted’ in a training ground bust- up.

At Twickenham on Saturday he got even with the Georgian forwards who sparked last year’s scrum brawl in Oxford.

England pointedly chose to go after the visitors in their area of strength, doing a number on one of Europe’s most renowned packs to go top of Nations Cup Group A.

Jamie George cashed in on England’s forward superiority, as the first Red Rose hooker to score a hat- trick of tries.

And boss Eddie Jones said: “We won the most important contest. Psychologically we wanted to take the scrum away from Georgia.”

Nobody enjoyed the set- piece set- to more than prop Genge, who had been in the thick of it in Oxford during that specially- arranged scrummage session.

“There’s no bad blood,” he said. “I’ve a lot of respect for those boys and I’ll shake their hands whether they’ve splatted my nose or not!

“To be honest I got the frustration out there and then.

“We all know we can’t throw haymakers or anything like that in a game, so there’s no point thinking about it.

“But did we want to prove a point after what happened in Oxford? Yeah, to a degree.”

England exacted revenge by legal means, turning down kickable penalties to deliver payback through their scrum.

“We tried to match them up front and we did a good job of it,” said Genge.

“It is nice for me as a lot of critics say my strength is not in the tight when it’s p***** g down and you are going to the well with scrums.”

Genge did admit to having had “a straightener in the car park… to sort it out” with Shalva Mamukashvili, when the Georgian hooker joined him at Leicester in March.

But he added: “When you’ve dealt with the dark arts in the front row, you show a lot of mutual respect. The Georgian lads are good players.”

England’s attention now turns to Ireland, who easily beat Wales in Friday’s opener.

In a clash likely to decide the pool winner that advances to next month’s Twickenham final, Jones will demand his players raise their game.

He said: “It’s a massive step up. Georgia are 12th in the world rankings, Italy 14th and Ireland are in the top five.

“We’re going to have to prepare really well.”