Ellis Genge has vowed to learn his disciplinary lesson ahead of England’s Six Nations campaign, but admitted he cannot promise there will be no repeat of his yellow card at Wasps.
The Leicester captain was sinbinned for shoving Francois Hougaard in the face and pulling his hair as the Tigers were beaten 16-13 on Sunday, their first loss of the season.
The 26-year-old — who will join hometown club Bristol next season — escaped a citing and a ban, but England head coach Eddie Jones will not want a repeat, with Genge likely to be involved against Scotland in his team’s Six Nations opener on February 5.
Ellis Genge has vowed to learn his discipline lesson ahead of England’s Six Nations campaign
‘It potentially cost us the game,’ Genge said of his yellow at Wasps.
‘Mine is an isolated incident of me losing my head for a split second. I have apologised to the boys for letting them down, but it is something I can’t promise I won’t do again.
‘I have not got a bad disciplinary record. I have never been red carded in a professional game.’
Genge’s sinbinning at Wasps was his seventh career yellow. Only once has he been temporarily dismissed with England.
‘For some reason there is this weird perception I’ve got bad discipline. I get peppered online about it. That goes in one ear and out the other, but I feel I probably let myself down,’ he said.
Leicester captain was sinbinned for shoving Francois Hougaard in the face and pulling his hair
‘It’s a learning lesson for me. A lot of people have said I tried to gouge him (Hougaard). That’s absolutely ridiculous. I’d never even dream of doing something like that. That’s disgusting.
‘But I pushed him in the face a bit. I’ll learn from it and we move on.’
Genge made his 100th Leicester appearance against Wasps, but his decision to swap the Tigers for Bristol for the 2022/23 campaign came as something of a shock.
Genge was born in Bristol and started his career at Ashton Gate. Speaking for the first time about his upcoming transfer, the loosehead revealed family reasons were behind the move.
‘I love captaining the club,’ Genge said of his Leicester experience.
‘Imagine being at war and all your troops are ready to die! That’s what our pack is about. Being at the front of
