England prop cites racial abuse
Ellis Genge has revealed that he, England head coach Eddie Jones and other players were racially abused during England’s tour of South Africa in 2018.
Genge, 25, spoke on BBC’s 5 Live breakfast show yesterday about the Black Lives Matter protests in Bristol and the need for greater black, Asian and minority ethnic representation at the top of rugby union.
The prop discussed his experiences growing up in Bristol as one of the few ethnic minority pupils at his school, and added: ‘‘Of course [people called me names], but I still get that now.’’
Genge said he was racially abused in South Africa as he emerged from the tunnel, though he did not specify at which stadium.
‘‘They started hurling racial abuse at myself and a few of the ethnic boys, Eddie [Jones] himself. [Racism] is still rife, especially in sport, but you can’t control that yourself.’’
Genge highlighted the lack of black coaches, with Paul Hull, his former coach at Bristol, a rare example.
‘‘I would love to see black coaches thriving in this game. Me and Maro [Itoje] have spoken about that,’’ he said.
Improved commercialisation of black, ethnic and female players would also lead to a more diverse game, Genge believes. He said he had not been aware rugby union was a professional sport when he was younger.
‘‘All the kids I know who are young and in poverty want to be footballers, because they are all icons. That’s the way they are presented commercially.
‘‘You want to be Raheem Sterling. Growing up I wanted to be a footballer, because that is the way they are presented,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t think people are commercialised in rugby, especially the black, ethnic or women players, to be icons.
‘‘We are not presented like that. So I can understand why the youth in poverty today don’t want to be rugby players, because it’s not the way we’re presented. We are sort of put on this posh pedestal.’’
Genge grew up in Bristol and said that, while he did not agree with the rioting that took place over the weekend, he empathised with the protesters’ desire to remove the statue of Edward Colston.
‘‘It was good to see people protesting as long as it’s peaceful,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m not really for the rioting. It was warranted to pull the statue down after 10 years of people asking the council to remove it. In light of everything that has been happening they acted on emotion. Obviously there are other ways to do it.’’