‘Front-row duo show England’s diversity’ – Eddie Jones

Front-rowers Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler are the standard bearers for the diversity evident in the current England side, according to the team’s head coach, Eddie Jones.

Sinckler, who hails from south London, had a hard upbringing and took up rugby instead of joining a gang while Genge has Dyspraxia, a developmental coordination disorder, and was raised on a tough council estate in Bristol.

Starting for England

Of black and mixed raced heritage, the duo, who were given their Test debuts in 2016 by Jones, will be England’s starting props in their Autumn Nations Series Test with Tonga at Twickenham on Saturday.

And Jones wants the two “raging bulls” to continue challenging rugby’s elitist image.

“Genge and Sinckler – they are changing the face of English rugby. They are funny, those two,” Jones said.

“When they started off together, they were both like raging bulls. They wanted to hit everything that moved, they wanted to argue everything. The whole world was against them.

“Then they go through a period where they settle a bit. Now we are seeing the acceleration that will take both of them to be very good players for England.

“They have gone through this little bit of maturation, they are both finding themselves a lot more, finding out what the strengths of their games are.

“In terms of their attack they have got an X-factor about them. Both of them have a ball carrying ability that isn’t seen in most props.

“We want them to keep working on that and to keep working on their scrummaging and being the face of the diversity of England rugby. You look at their backgrounds, it’s a fantastic story for England rugby.”

Jones’ new leadership team has been completed with captain Owen Farrell now supported by three vice skippers in Genge, Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry.

“They all bring something a bit different to the party. Tom Curry is a very tough, aggressive player,” Jones said.

“Ellis Genge is the same but he’s also got a great set of human qualities. He had quite a tough up-bringing and he understands what young players go through.

“Courtney has had years of experience. He’s probably seen the best and the worst of English rugby and he can share those experiences with the players. And Owen is the best man for the job as captain.”

Owen Farrell at fly-half, Marcus Smith on the bench

Meanwhile, Jones has named his team to take on Tonga on Saturday at Twickenham Stadium, with Farrell captaining the side from fly-half.

In-form Harlequins playmaker Marcus Smith, who was expected to start at pivot with Farrell at 12, is instead named on the bench.

Manu Tuilagi makes his first appearance for England since March 2020, after coming back from injury, at inside centre, and Henry Slade is at 13.

Smith’s injury forces selection hand

Planet Rugby features writer James While on England's decision to select star Marcus Smith on the bench in their Autumn Nations Series clash with Tonga.