Genge: We’re going to make Italy suffer
ELLIS Genge insists England are in mean and hungry mood to make Italy suffer for their latest Calcutta Cup misery.
However, the prop warns his team-mates the visitors to Twickenham today are certainly “no mugs” and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect, care and attention.
The pressure on Steve Borthwick to get the first win under his belt as head coach, and his team to improve a miserable home record of three defeats in the last five games, has been ramped up in round two of the Six Nations after the 2923 loss to Scotland.
The Azzurri pushed France to the limit before going down by just five points in Rome last Sunday and Bristol prop Genge admits that even if most of the home crowd will expect England to remain unbeaten against the Italians, and do so in style, the players are prepared for a major test with their rivals now determined to play a faster, more attacking style.
He says: “In the past people have said this and that about whether Italy should be replaced by the likes of Georgia in Six Nations but they have certainly shown their worth in recent times especially with that win over Wales in Cardiff last year, and then just how brilliantly they played against France. So they are no mugs.
“I watched that game, and I think everyone was fairly shocked how close the score was, and that they had the opportunity to win it had a few things gone their way.
“France gave a lot of penalties away, and if you give away 18 penalties against any Tier 1 Test side you are going to struggle to win the game. France found a way of getting the win but it was very tight.
“But all of Test rugby is so close at the moment. You don’t see anyone pounding someone else. You saw the Ireland game when they went 20-points or so up against Wales but then it levelled out a bit. It is small margins in Tier 1 rugby and you have to pound the rock so to speak and take your opportunities when you get them.
“We could and probably should have beaten Scotland but you get what you deserve in this world and we deserved to lose in the end. Now we have to bounce back and put in a big performance this weekend. We need to learn from where we went wrong. “Everybody has been upbeat in training this week and ready to get after it against Italy. Losing to Scotland will have a rekindling effect. You never go out to lose and we are not going to say that we will try harder because we lost to Scotland, because we want to win every game.
“We have a new coaching set up and it’s not about overnight success. You have to be aware of what you want to do and go after it, and you reap the rewards.
“During the title success at Leicester we suffered a record away loss to Wasps 44-12. Our biggest defeat but we learned some harsh lessons. We learned some more last weekend against Scotland.”
Genge is thrilled to have Jack Willis, left, back with him in the England pack having seen his good friend fight back from a career-threatening knee injury against Italy in an empty Twickenham two years ago.
Flanker Willis, who was snapped up by Toulouse when Wasps went into administration, has a fresh chance to shine on the Test stage.
“Jack is a hero,” said Genge. “I was glad he got a club in France and he seems to have enjoyed it out there. It showed the measure of the man to come back the way he did. He’s very resilient and if he puts his mind to something he gets very good at it.”