Ellis Genge says England’s improvement in the scrums has been motivated by the World Cup semi-final ‘hammering’ at the hands of the Springboks.
South Africa knocked Steve Borthwick’s men out of the tournament courtesy of a 16-15 victory, with Handre Pollard expertly slotting a penalty in the 78th minute.
The scrum was a shining light in a disappointing Six Nations’ campaign
That penalty was sourced from a scrum that Genge was involved in with the Springboks getting the upper hand at the set-piece, and the veteran prop says that ‘open wounds’ from that night at the Stade de France have motivated his and England’s improvements.
However, he believes that they will only get their plaudits if they replicate their strong showing in the set-piece during the Six Nations when they face the back-to-back world champions in South Africa in July.
It was a disappointing campaign for England in the Championship as they finished in a lowly fifth, only beating Wales during their tournament, but the scrum was a real positive.
“I was just happy with the way the boys stuck together,” Genge said of the performance in the Six Nations when speaking to The Daily Mail. “There was not really any positive lights. Obviously played reasonably well against France, but I mean, we lost and came fifth.”
The RFU is still conducting an extensive review of England’s performance in the Six Nations, and Genge gave insight to involvement.
“They just ask for honest feedback, honest answers, and just give it to them,” he said.
“Like I’ll talk to Tom Harrison [England’s scrum coach] about the scrum and stuff. Obviously, we had a +18 penalty differential, and the next highest was six, so the scrum went well.”
The Springboks possess the most dominant pack we’ve ever seen
With the Six Nations now behind England, the focus shifts to the inaugural Nations Championship, with their first match-up being the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on July 4.
“I’d love to,” he replied when asked if he is relishing the test Rassie Erasmus’ charges pose. “It’s a real test, isn’t it?”
“Fact, yeah. Most definitely, 100%,” he added when it was noted that this is probably the ‘most dominant pack we have ever seen’ in international.”
So, how do England prepare for that challenge? Well, Genge says that footwear will play a big part in it, as so many players nowadays don’t want to wear the old school 12-studded boots. He admits that he doesn’t either, but makes the sacrifice for the set-piece.
“Well, you scrum. You get your cadence right. You get your sequencing right. You get everyone invested. You get the boys wearing decent footwear,” he said.
“People want to wear f–king molds now to play rugby, and I’m showing my 12 studded 24 mm and ask how the ‘F–k do you run about in them?’ I don’t want to wear them, but I have to.
“So yeah, just get everyone invested. I think we’re in a good spot. But yeah, the true test if you’re being honest about it is in the summer.
“Like no one will give us any plaudits until we go there and try to put our best foot forward against SA.”
“Everyone’s beatable,” he continued, pointedly adding that “We’ll find out” if England’s scrum can rise to the challenge that the Boks pose.
Rugby World Cup wounds
Casting his mind back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, unwillingly so, Genge still harbours hurt from the scrum penalty that he conceded, which has driven him to bulk up and make improvements to the technicalities of his position.
“Open wounds, you get f–king hammered in the scrum,” he said. “Well, not hammered, but your scrum lets you down and you want to rectify it.
“Like the feeling after that semi of losing by a point and ultimately a penalty 40 metres out coming from our scrum, whether the decision was right or wrong. It hurts, like thanks for bringing that up. But yeah, so it’s an open wound, and you just got to make sure it don’t open back up.”
Asked why that was so wounding, he replied: “It’s a f–king World Cup. It’s a World Cup semi-final. The penalty for them to go ahead was from a scrum penalty that I was involved in, against me. So, obviously, it’s going to make you feel a certain way, isn’t it? Like you’ve let the f–king nation down.
“I ain’t going to go into it. I don’t want to f–king reopen a can of worms, but you watch the scrums from that game and make your own mind up.”
Ellis Genge’s improvements in the scrum
The scrum is treated differently in South Africa compared to other countries, with more of a spectacle made of the set-piece. There has been a real push from World Rugby to speed up the scrums, and calls from many to limit its influence on the game.
However, Genge does enjoy the hype the scrum gets when it comes to the Springboks and is feeling confident that England can rise to the challenge, having made huge strides in the set-piece.
“F–k yeah, but they always make a spectacle about it when we play against South Africa, don’t they? It gets a lot of airtime,” he said.
“We’ve definitely improved massively, and the numbers reflect that as well.”
The scrum performance in the semi-final defeat to South Africa was a defining moment for Genge personally. Detailing how he improved in that facet of his game, he said: “I put on 12 kilos and weigh 127 now.
“Loads of gym, eating, scrums, making myself robust in the right areas, lifting consistently, never missing any sessions. A bit more grub. I’m not a great eater… It’s more weights, squatting, neck, trying to push everything you do on.”
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