Ellis Genge: “Rough diamonds are in disadvantaged areas”

The Bristol Bears prop, speaking on this week’s Up Front with Simon Jordan, the William Hill podcast, spoke about the talent identification system in English rugby and criticized class divisions.

Already June 2019, in an interview with RugbyPass, Ellis Genge had complained about how rugby had a class problem and that there was no adequate infrastructure at the bottom to nurture talent. The England prop believed youngsters did not have the same opportunities as those attending private schools with access to the best facilities and coaches.

In recent days the front line of the English national team has reiterated its concept: “The RFU certainly has a class problem. At a young age, what kids lose in becoming a professional rugby player depends largely on the class gap in the sport, and I’m strictly talking about a financial gap here,” the Bears player underlined.

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According to Ellis Genge, there is a clear class divide in English rugby: “When it comes to everything you have to buy, the hours you have to drive to all the schools and rugby matches, private schools have the best structures and the best coaches and will produce better talent”.

To find real talent, the way forward for the English prop is to go to the disadvantaged areas of the country: “I know where the raw talent is. Kids with raw talent and aggression are hungry to get out of where they come from, out of disadvantaged areas. Unfortunately, it all comes down to money,” said Ellis Genge.

Ellis Genge: the parallel between rugby and football

The Bears prop is originally from Knowle West in Bristol and managed to turn professional by joining his local team and first passing through Leicester. According to Genge, in football everything is much simpler: “In football, for example, you see kids recruited at eight, nine and ten years old because the talent and infrastructure are basic and they know if there is a good player. I don’t think football’s greatest talents need to go to university to be discovered. The rugby infrastructure at the grassroots needs a lot of work and funding,” the frontline said.

Finally, to demonstrate how true his thesis is, he quoted one of his national team teammates: “I take Alex Dombrandt as an example. He signed his first professional contract when he finished university at 22 and is now one of the best number eights in the Premiership. The paths between the two sports are very different, in rugby there is no identification of talent.”

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