England prop Ellis Genge says pulling down slave trader statue was ‘warranted’

Ellis Genge would like to see black coaches thriving in English rugby. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

Bristol-born England prop Ellis Genge backed the pulling down of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in his home city and then hit out at the BBC for incorrectly using a picture of international team-mate Lewis Ludlam instead of him on its website.

Genge, 25, now plays for Leicester Tigers but grew up in the south-west city. He was a Bristol Bear between 2013 and 2016 and now has 18 England caps.

“I’ve got a lot of black family in Bristol and we’re all proud Bristolians but at the same time, we didn’t want a big statue in the middle of a slave trader,” he said in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think it’s warranted to pull the statue down after ten years of asking.”

The BBC later had to apologise after mistakenly publishing a picture of Genge’s England team-mate Ludlam on its website in an article promoting the interview. Genge tweeted: “I’m actually f****d off with this happening to every mixed race/black sportsperson. Must be the 15th time in less than a year just between me and @LewisLudlam

“Tried my hardest to find pictures of me and @LewisLudlam looking the same but I still can’t see it.”

Northampton flanker Ludlam backed him and  said: “I’m with Gengey on this one however, wrong mixed raced guy @BBCSport

“Probably should be getting that right on an article about race issues. Not the first time this has happened.

“Not just Gengey. ITV think i’m Anthony Watson.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We apologise for this human error, which fell below our usual standards on the website.”

The controversial bronze statue of Colston was torn down and thrown into the harbour daubed in “blood red” paint by anti-racism protesters in Bristol on Sunday in the wake of outcry over the killing in America of George Floyd jnr by police in Minneapolis. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described it as a “criminal act” but it has been supported by many high-profile political and celebrity figures since as a defensible pursuit to remove racist symbols from the nation’s cities.

Genge, who scored the winning try in the Calcutta Cup dogfight at BT Murrayfield in February, which England won 13-6, grew up on a Bristol council estate and said in the radio interview he had experienced racial abuse throughout his life and it was still rife today. He added that rugby needs to take more strides towards equality.

“The issue with rugby is that it’s been a white man’s game for a number of years and there’s not really any black coaches or ethnic coaches especially over here in England,” said Genge. “I’d love to see black coaches thriving in this game.”

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England prop Ellis Genge says pulling down slave trader statue was ‘warranted’

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