“Go on, say it….” Ellis Genge began, confronting the question he expected was to come. Only twice previously has the prop led England out, as he will against Fiji this weekend, having been named as co-captain alongside a benched Maro Itoje; his recollections of a 53-10 thrashing by France and a World Cup warm-up defeat against Wales are not overwhelmingly positive.
As it happened, the journalist had actually embarked with alternative intentions in his line of questioning, but since Genge had broached the matter, the record defeat at Twickenham during the 2023 Six Nations had to be touched upon. The captain, of course, had already been reminded by his squadmates. “Immediately, I had a few boys coming up to me saying, ‘let’s hope it goes better than last time’,” Genge said after being named to lead a heavily changed England team this week.
