Ellis Genge said he felt “proper proud” of the England squad despite Six Nations defeat by Ireland on Saturday.
Leicester Tigers prop Genge was at the centre of the forward pack’s efforts at Twickenham as England played with 14 men for nearly 80 minutes following an early red card to Charlie Ewels.
As the dust began to settle after the final whistle, Genge posted on social media: “Not a fan of the old brave losers vibe, but I think circumstances today probably warrants that. Proper proud of the group. Thanks for support.”
Genge was named in the starting team alongside club colleague Freddie Steward while Ben Youngs extended his record number of appearances to 116 as a replacement and George Ford moved on to 80 caps as he joined the action from the bench.
Ireland scored two tries on the way to a 15-9 lead, but were pegged back by England on the back of the impact of scrum penalties before two tries in the closing 10 minutes sealed a 32-15 victory for the visitors.
Ollie Chessum was a travelling reserve with the England squad, while Nic Dolly was also in the camp last week and fellow Tigers front-rower Joe Heyes was released back to play for Tigers in the win over London Irish on Saturday.
All seven Tigers players have been included in Eddie Jones’ 34-man squad preparing for the final Six Nations fixture against France in Paris this week.
