Ellis Genge has expressed his belief that England can win the Rugby World Cup after silencing their critics by beginning the tournament with a defiant victory against Argentina.
England went into the match on Saturday as underdogs after a desperate warm-up campaign and, despite losing Tom Curry to a red card inside three minutes, Steve Borthwick’s side produced the finest performance of his tenure with George Ford kicking all their points in a 27-10 victory against the Pumas in Marseille.
England were widely written off before the World Cup and when Borthwick named his squad a month ago he declined repeatedly the opportunity to say he believed his side were contenders for the title.
His players adopted a similar stance but after England took a significant step towards the quarter‑finals – with pool stage matches against Japan, Chile and Samoa to come – Genge said: “We want to win the World Cup and we’re doing the same thing every week. Consistency, consistency. This is what we’re aiming for, every single week we said we were building, and nobody believed it. But I believe we can win this World Cup. Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. We’re going to go again every week.
“There was not one second in the last few weeks that I’ve thought: ‘We’re in trouble here.’ I honestly haven’t. I know that’s hard to believe but I haven’t felt like that at all. I’m not saying we’ve cracked it by any sense but it’s a step in the right direction. We’ve been chipping away, doing our graft, and we’re confident. We’ve been doing the work, so we can be confident. 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.
“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 you’ve got to burn the ships. Then all you can do is double down.”
Curry, meanwhile, will learn whether he is suspended and for how long at a disciplinary panel on Tuesday after he became the fourth England player to be shown a red card in six matches – even if Freddie Steward’s against Ireland during the Six Nations was eventually rescinded.
Curry was making his first appearance for England under Borthwick and playing in his first match since May, having sustained an ankle injury over the summer. But in the third minute the openside flanker made an upright tackle on Argentina’s full-back, Juan Cruz Mallía, who was just landing with the ball after gathering a kick.
As was the case with Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola, Curry was initially shown a yellow card which was upgraded to red via the new bunker review system. In a similar incident during his side’s defeat by Japan on Sunday the Chile captain, Martín Sigren, was shown a yellow card which was not upgraded. Later on Sunday, Jesse Kriel made direct contact with Jack Dempsey’s head in a tackle during South Africa’s win against Scotland, also in Marseille. It was similar to Curry’s challenge but, in this case, was not looked at by the television match official.
“It’s tough isn’t it? The ref made his decision,” Genge said of Curry’s sending‑off. “He referred it and the TMO in the box thought it was a red. As he’s landing, kick-chasing, it’s a split-second thing. He didn’t mean to do it and there was no malice in it. I don’t think he meant to hit him but it’s one of them and you have to adapt.”
Ben Earl, who along with Courtney Lawes, shone in England’s depleted back-row believes Curry was “unlucky” to see his yellow card upgraded. If the sending off is upheld, Curry can expect a ban of three weeks, reduced to two if he attends “tackle school”.
Earl said: “Obviously gutted for Tom. I didn’t feel there was any malice in that challenge. I thought he was quite unlucky. Hopefully that works out but overall we’re really pleased with how we bounced back.
“We’ve spoken a lot about the difference between playing in a World Cup and playing in warm-up games, the autumn nations series or even the Six Nations. Obviously we all want to win as many games for England as we can but you don’t win anything in the summer. You start winning stuff now. We’re starting to show we’re not just going to roll over in those situations.
“Some teams might and sometimes in the Premiership losing a player of Tom’s calibre is a deciding factor. We’re starting to really find a way to win which is really pleasing.”
