It came in the closing stages of England’s third defeat of the championship.
Leicester and England prop Ellis Genge was fortunate that the on-field officials did not witness his reckless treatment of Johnny Sexton at the bottom of a ruck.
Genge came on for Mako Vunipola at half-time in England’s 32-18 defeat to Ireland, at the Aviva Stadium. Ireland looked to have sealed victory when they went 28-6 ahead but a red card to Bundee Aki gave the visitors a glimmer of hope.
The prop was part of a concerted phase of English pressure, in the final 15 minutes, and took exception to Sexton’s presence at the bottom of a ruck, under the Irish posts.
This is awful pic.twitter.com/LHaPHyA7gX
— Cárthach Bán Breathnach (@cartyban) March 20, 2021
Here is a clearer view of the incident in question (below). As you can see, Genge makes contact with the head of the prone Ireland captain on several occasions.
Bundee Aki deserved to be sent off – dangerous hit, but it was a genuine attempt at a tackle on Vunipola.
I really hope @WorldRugby deals with Ellis Genge properly here, despicable and nasty – a poor loser. pic.twitter.com/IekPY7ndOo
— Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) March 20, 2021
Sexton did not mention the incident following the game, and it was not put to him in the post-match briefing. He did, however, speak about his side’s “brilliant” victory.
“It was the performance,” he said, “apart from the first 10 minutes, that we wanted to produce against one of the real top sides.
“England, with the results they’ve had over the last number of years, would be up there with the best sides in the world… we worked hard over the last eight weeks and we felt that we weren’t too far away.
“We said these things and I think maybe you guys didn’t listen to us. But we felt we weren’t too far away and I think it all came together in parts, there’s still stuff we can get better at and we need to keep getting better.”
It will be interesting to see if the independent citing officer picks up on the Genge interaction with Sexton. Should be be cited, a hearing would take place midweek.
