Nigel Owens backs Ellis Genge's interview antics
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Welsh referee Nigel Owens has supported Ellis Genge's interview antics after the England prop came under some criticism for his interview after the win over Scotland.
The England prop earned scored the matching clitching try in last weekend’s Calcutta Cup win over Scotland, however it was followed by criticism for a post-match TV interview where he drank beer on camera and called the media ‘sausages’ for their mostly negative reaction to the previous week’s defeat to France.
WATCH: The interview below:
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Nigel Owens used his weekly walesonline.co.uk column to come to the defence of Genge.
“I know Ellis Genge pretty well as a player as I’ve reffed him many times,” said Owens, who was in Paris last weekend for the France versus Italy Guinness Six Nations match.
“He always comes up after the game and he sent me a message after the France game saying, “Well done on a great game and a great career”. I have a lot of respect for him.
“He plays with his heart on his sleeve and that’s good to see. That’s what we want from our players. I always enjoy reffing him although he sometimes brings his own challenges to you as a referee.
“Looking at his interview, to me that is him. I don’t know him well but to me that was him, he wasn’t trying to be anybody else.
He went on to say that referees often the players invite him into the dressing room after the game and said that Genge was just being himself.
“Sometimes after the match, I am invited to the players’ dressing room and after a hard 80 minutes on the field, most of them will have a beer in their hands and as referees and officials we share a drink with each other in the changing room after the game too and that is rugby.
“To me, Ellis Genge was just doing an interview having a beer as if he was in the changing rooms. To me that him just being himself.
“What you see is what you get and that is more important to me rather than somebody pretending to be somebody they’re not. He’s a very good player and a good lad who I have a lot of respect for.”
