Genge hails ‘class operator’ Borthw Ick for tough love
‘What you’ve seen is a product of all the hard work the boys have done’
15-12
Ellis Genge, the departing Leicester Tigers captain, praised the tough love of head coach Steve Borthwick after leading the club to a record ninth Gallagher Premiership title just two seasons after finishing 11th.
Freddie Burns’s late dropped goal sealed a dramatic victory over Saracens, completing a remarkable turnaround since Borthwick quit as Eddie Jones’s assistant in 2020 to take the reins at Welford Road.
Having left Bristol in 2016 to head to the East Midlands, Genge saw the very worst of Leicester when they finished second bottom of the Premiership – and that only due to Saracens’ salary-cap points deductions – as well as the rise back to the top of the table. Borthwick’s relentlessness has evidently been at the forefront of that journey.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute with Steve. He’s f------ brilliant, to be blunt. He’s incredible,” Genge said.
“When I came in, 1st of February 2016, I think a lot of senior players had left – Coley [Dan Cole], Benny [Youngs] were in their late twenties. I think there was probably a bit of direction missing. And it happens, you see it with all teams, Exeter for example.
“Steve has reinstalled that belief, that work ethic, because it had probably got a bit complacent in 2018 and we got what we deserved. But you reap the rewards if you put the work in, and that’s what we’ve done. What you’ve seen is a product of all the hard work the boys have done.
“Steve has been incredible. He hates hearing it so I don’t really enjoy saying it. But he’s a class operator. You don’t come in and turn a team from sixth last season to winning it the year after.
“He’s watched me grow from that 18, 19-year-old from Knowle West to what I am today. I’m not done yet, I want to achieve a lot more. It’ll be tough because he’s quite hard on me, keeps me grounded.”
Tries from Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese gave Leicester a 12-6 half-time lead, before two Owen Farrell penalties left the game level with five minutes remaining until Burns’s late heroics.
Genge lifted the Premiership trophy with former club captain Tom Youngs, the England hooker whose wife Tiffany sadly died the previous week following a long illness.
“We’ve had a tough few months, on and off the pitch,” Genge admitted. “It’s a roller coaster, ups and downs, smiles and frowns, but that makes this a bit sweeter. Obviously nothing is going to compensate for what’s happened, ever. And what a woman Tiff was. And what a man Tommy is. It’s just brilliant to have Tommy here. Hopefully we put a smile on his face.”
While hailing Burns’s “absolute cojones” to land the winning dropped goal, Genge was eager to highlight the contributions of Leicester’s forwards over the preceding 79 minutes.
“Calum Green, his knee is absolutely shattered and he grafted for 60 minutes with no cartilage in his knee,” Genge said. “Julian Montoya, his MCL is dust. You’ve got boys carrying these knocks who don’t get the plaudits and put Freddie in the position. He has to execute but you don’t see the work that goes on behind the scenes and the things that happen in the week to lead up to those moments. It’s important to recognise those unsung heroes like Greeno, Coley, those boys who do all the graft and look ugly for it.”
Genge will return to Bristol next season but departs as a title-winning captain and, in the words of Leicester great Ian “Dosser” Smith, as “a proper Tiger”.
“The title stuff is obviously class and the accolades are brilliant. No one can take that away from us. But it’s more guys like Matt Smith, Brett Deacon, Dosser – Smithy’s dad. They came up to me and said, ‘You’re a proper Tiger’. That caught me off guard because there aren’t many people they would say that to. For a foreigner who came up from the South West in BS4, that
meant a lot to me. I’ll be forever grateful for the words of wisdom they gave me.”
Genge’s celebrations on Saturday night were slightly overshadowed by a racially abusive message he was sent on social media, with the England prop posting it on his account to call for social media companies and the Government to do more to combat online hate.
“On another note, I think it’s important to highlight that this is still a massive problem, from a legit account too,” Genge said, alongside the message with the user details redacted, in the early hours of yesterday.
“Not here for a headhunt hence the black out, common occurrence and socials/law should come down on it.”