Ell of a test up front but pack makes a fine start
ELLIS GENGE insists England are ready to take on Ireland’s scrum after grinding Georgia into submission in a 40-0 Autumn Nations Cup victory at Twickenham.
While a comfortable home win was always expected against world rugby’s No.12 ranked side, England did get a real test of their forward strength in a match featuring 17 scrums, 31 line-outs and 11 mauls.
Head coach Eddie Jones will make a number of changes for the fiercer test Ireland will pose next Saturday but Genge says the Georgian clash was a worthwhile exercise.
‘This game puts us in good stead going into Ireland because they’re scrummaging quite well,’ said Genge. ‘We were (only) 7-0 up after 20-odd minutes. You’ve got to break teams like Georgia down. This sets us up for what’s to come. It was a good performance but we’ve got a lot more in the tank.’
Genge was at the heart of fisticuffs that exploded when Georgia’s pack joined England for a training session in Oxford in February 2019, forcing coaches to separate the packs.
Since then, Los Lelos hooker Shalva Mamukashvili has joined Genge at Leicester and the two have buried the hatchet.
‘Oxford was a long time ago. Shalva has come to the club and we had a straightener in the car park to sort it out,’ Genge joked.
‘But no, he’s a good boy and we’ve got a lot of respect for each other. When you’ve dealt with the dark arts in the front row, you show a lot of mutual respect.
‘Hats off to Georgia, they’re a great scrummaging side and we came out on top which we’re really pleased about.’