{"id":22568,"date":"2025-07-26T02:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T02:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/22568\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T02:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T02:26:10","slug":"how-ellis-genge-reacted-to-being-dropped-for-the-second-lions-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/22568\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ellis Genge reacted to being dropped for the second Lions Test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andrew Porter has spoken about Ellis Genge\u2019s reaction to being dropped to the bench for the second Test of the British & Irish Lions<\/a> series against Australia<\/a> in Melbourne, describing the England<\/a> prop\u2019s response as immediate and supportive.<\/p>\n

Despite being one of the standout Lions on tour, the decision was taken to start Porter with the hard carrying Genge set to be sprung from the bench later in the Test.<\/p>\n

Porter, who replaces Genge in the starting XV, said the Bristolian was the first to congratulate him following Thursday\u2019s team announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first one,\u201d said Porter. \u201cIt\u2019s been said so many times but you come into this squad with perceptions of different players. You\u2019re so used to playing against them in the Champions Cup or Six Nations<\/a> or wherever but your perceptions are dashed pretty much the minute you step in the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair have become close during the tour, sharing a room and spending time together as part of the so-called \u201cprop club\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

British & Irish Lions<\/p>\n

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Australia <\/p>\n

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British & Irish Lions <\/p>\n

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\u201cMe and Ellis were rooming together as well, so I got to know him better,\u201d Porter continued. \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible guy, an incredible player, and it\u2019s been great to build a friendship as well as learn from him. He\u2019s one of the best in the business so it\u2019s great being able to become closer as mates and learn from each other along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genge, who started in the first Test win in Brisbane, was also the one to present Porter with his Lions cap last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he was the first one to congratulate me yesterday and sure he handed out my cap to me last week instead of my dad. He\u2019s the dad of the squad. He\u2019s a great fellah and he\u2019s a great player as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porter starts this Saturday\u2019s second Test at loosehead in a new-look front row alongside Leinster<\/a> teammates Dan Sheehan<\/a> and Tadhg Furlong. His elevation is part of a broader reshuffle that also sees Huw Jones<\/a> maintain his spot the backline following a late withdrawal of Garry Ringrose<\/a> due to a recurrence of concussion symptoms.<\/p>\n

Ringrose, who had returned to action against the First Nations and Pasifika XV earlier in the week, informed head coach Andy Farrell during Thursday training that he was not feeling right and subsequently ruled himself out of contention for the Test.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually only heard that before coming here (to speak to the media) that he actually withdrawn himself and that he wasn\u2019t pulled aside by a coach,\u201d said Porter. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly disappointing for Garry but it just goes to show the character and the player that he is to pull himself aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s an incredibly hard thing to do \u2013 and given the magnitude of the game \u2013 but it\u2019s testament to the player and person he is to be able to put the team first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ringrose had initially suffered symptoms during the match against the Brumbies<\/a> two weeks ago and sat out the first Test as a result. Despite returning midweek, he made the selfless decision to remove himself from what would have been his first Lions Test start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that sense if he\u2019s not right, he\u2019s not right and he\u2019s looking to let someone who\u2019s fit and able to come into the squad and do the job,\u201d Porter said.<\/p>\n

The Lions will start Saturday\u2019s match with nine Irish internationals in the XV (a record for a Lions Test) as they aim to wrap up the three-match series with a second win. Porter, making his first Lions Test start, said he was eager to take the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearing my name in the starting line-up for this week is another dream ticked off again,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just incredibly excited for the opportunity to go out there and play for this team and play with these lads who we\u2019ve created such great connection with over the last few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Porter has spoken about Ellis Genge\u2019s reaction to being dropped to the bench for the second Test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-22568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}