‘Nobody believed us’ – Ellis Genge explains how England got it right for Rugby World Cup opener

Prop Ellis Genge insisted that England were always on the right track after they opened their Rugby World Cup campaign with an impressive victory.

The Red Rose began the tournament with a potentially group-defining clash against Argentina and managed to overcome their opponents with a dominant display.

That 27-10 win came despite the struggles of the past couple of years, which led to the sacking of Eddie Jones, and his successor, Steve Borthwick, initially failing to turn it around.

They appeared to be at their lowest ebb following a 30-22 home defeat to Fiji, but Genge always had confidence in the squad.

Doubling down

“We said we were building, but nobody believed it,” he said.

“I know it’s hard from the outside – I support Bristol Rovers so I know how it feels when you’re not getting results. When that happens it’s always ‘this is the worst ever, everything has to change’.

“But when you’re in a team 24 hours a day, seven days a week for three months, you know where you are and where you’re going. It doesn’t take a genius, and I’m definitely not a genius.

“You’ve got to burn the ships. Then all you can do is double down.”

Genge isn’t just content with the victory over Argentina and wants Borthwick’s men to build on that result.

England next face Japan before finishing Pool D with matches against Chile and Samoa as they aim to top the group.

World Cup ambitions

“I want to win the World Cup. And I believe we can. Of course, I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” the prop added.

“This is where everybody gets things wrong. It’s all, ‘Right, you beat Argentina’ and people celebrating, saying, ‘unbelievable win, unbelievable.’

“But it’s about consistency, doing the same thing every week. That is what we’re aiming for. Not being relieved [to win here]. We want to win the tournament.

“I don’t think we needed that performance, I don’t think we needed anything. As I said, we know where we’re going. We’ve got beliefs. So we don’t necessarily need anything, just the same again.

“It means we’ve won our first game, I don’t think it means anything else. We’ve got to win the next one as well. It doesn’t work that way.”

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