Ellis Genge calls out teammates after defeat against Ireland

Saturday, 21 February 2026 at 21:26

bySteven Smith

Ellis Genge fronted the cameras after Ireland’s ruthless 42–21 win at Allianz Stadium — and the England prop did not hold back.

Ireland ran in five tries to keep their title bid alive, while England were left chasing the game after another disastrous opening quarter. For the second week running, Steve Borthwick’s side conceded heavily inside the first 15 minutes.

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Genge admitted that was where the damage was done.

“Two weeks in a row conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes. There is no mountain to climb after that and everyone has to take a look at themselves.”

England never truly recovered from the early onslaught, and when asked about solutions, Genge was blunt.

“No one knows what the answer is right now or we would have sorted it out.”

He also revealed the psychological impact of the previous week’s defeat lingered, and urged his teammates to sort it our..

“It opened up scar tissue from last week. We have to be better at managing that period and stop turning the ball over.”

Ireland punished every error, exposing how small margins at Test level can quickly spiral.

“It’s brutal, professional sport — if you get 5% wrong it’s gone.”

Genge suggested England may have believed external praise too quickly after their opening-round win.

“We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can’t let the noise in now.”

With England’s title hopes effectively over, Genge apologised directly to supporters.

“Sorry to the fans, you have been outstanding. We have let everyone down, apologies for that.”

“I promise we will make it better. We are going to go away and work as hard as we can to rectify things.”

The defeat clearly hurt.

“I am gutted, I wanted to win. It’s tough but that is what professional sport is and she’s a nasty mistress sometimes.”

Ireland march on in the championship race.

England are left searching for answers.

“Criminally bad” – Five players who flopped in today’s Six Nations action

Here are five players whose performances were, frankly, criminally bad.

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#1. George Ford (England)

Mail Online 3/10: "Missed touch twice, the second of which was a shocker. Ironic cheers when he finally managed it."

Telegraph 3/10: "Never great when your own supporters are ironically cheering you making basic kicks. Nothing else really went right."

Rugby Pass 3/10: "He’s done so many great things for England over the past year, but he will come under some serious scrutiny now."

Express 4/10: "Poor in Edinburgh, kicked two penalties straight out here and at risk."

#2. Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales)

Wales Online 5/10: "Rees-Zammit's decision to run instead of kicking in his own 22 was the wrong one and it cost Wales momentum and field position when he was tackled by Sione Tuipulotu. Also caught out of position for the Darcy Graham try."

Planet Rugby 5/10: "One of the few stars in this Wales side, but ultimately, Scotland limited his influence. Rees-Zammit was wholly committed and put his body on the line throughout, but errors crept into his game in the second period."

Rugby Pass 5/10: "Looked uncomfortable at full-back. Struggled for rhythm in open field and was contained too easily. Two handling errors, three missed tackles and a penalty that preceded Scotland taking the lead summed up a difficult outing."

#3. Luke Cowan-Dickie (England)

Rugby Pass 2/10: "Dreadful first lineout, although there appeared to be confusion in the ranks, and while the lineout tightened up, it wasn’t an area England looked completely secure in. Swarmed on by Joe McCarthy at the back of a maul in a match he struggled in. Borthwick had seen enough, and hooked him off after 29 minutes."

Telegraph 2/10: "So bad it got to the point he was not trusted to throw a proper line-out. Replaced before the 30 minute mark and it could have actually been earlier."

Planet Rugby 3/10: "Not his finest day in an England shirt. Did well in the loose, but the lineout was a real issue for England in the early part of the game, firing at 67% during his time on the field, and was later hooked at 29 minutes."

RUCK 2/10: "Dragged off only 29 minutes in after a shocking showing that included some poor lineout throwing, general ineffectiveness and poor defending on more than one occasion. Didn’t turn up at all."

Mail Online 2/10: "He was immediately under pressure at the line-out in a nightmare start and suffered the humiliation of being replaced before the half-hour by Jamie George."

#4. Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)

Rugby Pass 5.5/10: "Back in the side and into the action early, but starved of quality ball for long periods. Made one trademark surge on 50 minutes as the red sea parted. Otherwise peripheral."

#5. Henry Arundell (England)

4/10: "A hat-trick against Wales and sent off against Scotland. Nothing as dramatic here but also nothing to write home about."

RUCK 2/10: "Poor last week and poor today. Not good enough under the high ball for the way England play, and was caught out on so many occasions. Got into a few decent positions on the ball and failed to make an impact with any of them. Surely someone else gets a go in Rome in two weeks."

Telegraph 3/10: "Looked completely devoid of confidence in attack refusing to back his pace out wide and was a liability in defence."

Planet Rugby 5/10: "Some very nice flashes ball-in-hand, but couldn’t quite get the breakaway his efforts warranted."

Rugby Pass 3/10: "Didn’t enjoy a huge amount of success in the air, specifically chasing kicks, but looked England’s most threatening carrier. Just nowhere near enough to make a discernible impact, though."

"Criminally bad" - Five players who flopped in today's Six Nations action

England’s Two Biggest Names Implode in Nightmare Ireland Defeat