the times | Wednesday February 23 2022 2GM 65
Sport
England’s 25-man squad
Forwards O Chessum (club:
Leicester Tigers, age: 21, cap: 1);
L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 28,
33); T Curry (Sale Sharks, 23, 38);
A Dombrandt (Harlequins, 24, 6);
C Ewels (Bath Rugby, 26, 28);
E Genge (Leicester, 27, 33); J George
(Saracens, 31, 63 caps); M Itoje
(Saracens, 27, 53); N Isiekwe
(Saracens, 23, 5); C Lawes
(Northampton Saints, 32, 90);
J Marler (Harlequins, 31, 76); B Rodd
(Sale, 21, 2); S Simmonds (Exeter, 27,
11); K Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 28, 49);
W Stuart (Bath, 25, 17).
Backs E Daly (Saracens, 29, 54);
G Ford (Leicester, 28, 79);
M Malins (Saracens, 25, 12); J Nowell
(Exeter, 28, 36); H Randall (Bristol,
24, 3); H Slade (Exeter, 28, 45);
M Smith (Harlequins, 23, 7);
F Steward (Leicester, 21, 7);
M Tuilagi (Sale, 30, 46); B Youngs
(Leicester, 32, 114).decision that the finance firm said was
mutual. The most damaging of Mickel-
son’s remarks to the golf writer Alan
Shipnuck was his reference to the Saudi
Public Investment Fund, the backers of
a proposed breakaway league, as “scary
motherf*****s”. He also told Shipnuck,
who is writing a biography on Mickel-
son, due out in May, that it was worth
getting in with the Saudis, despite the
country’s history of human rights
abuses, if it meant a chance to change
the PGA Tour.
“We know they killed [The Washing-
ton Post columnist Jamal] Khashoggi
and have a horrible record on human
rights,” he said. “They execute people
over there for being gay. Knowing all of
this, why would I even consider it?
Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime op-
portunity to reshape how the PGA
Tour operates.”
Shipnuck last night tweeted that
Mickelson’s claims that he spoke off the
record were “completely false”.centre positions alongside Henry
Slade, with Tuilagi moving infield
regularly. Otherwise Slade and Tuilagi
could rekindle their centre partnership
from the Tonga and South Africa
matches in the autumn, operating
outside the fly half, Marcus Smith.
England remained coy about how
they will deploy Tuilagi, who is back
after a hamstring injury.
“He’s the type of player that can jump
into anywhere,” Martin Gleeson, the
attack coach, said of Tuilagi, who has
not featured in the tournament since
the 33-30 victory over Wales at Twick-
enham in 2020. “Nothing is ruled out
with Manu. He adds a lot: his physical
presence, his footwork, his leg speed.
The things he can do, not many other
people can do.”
Jack Nowell is available for selection
after suffering a head injury against
Italy ten days ago, and Ollie Chessum,
Nick Isiekwe and Charlie Ewels are
fighting for one lock spot alongside
Maro Itoje in the starting XV, as well as
continued from back
Dombrandt set to face his former nation
one place on the bench. Alex Dom-
brandt is in line to keep his No 8 shirt
and therefore play against Wales for the
first time, having represented them at
under-20 level in 2017 while at Cardiff
Metropolitan University.
He appeared in a 37-21 defeat by
England Under-20, who had Tom
Curry, Harry Randall and Isiekwe intheir side five years ago in Colwyn Bay.
“They were very impressive. It wasn’t
a great day for myself, we lost quite
convincingly,” Dombrandt, 24, said.
There will be no debut for Alfie
Barbeary, who has been sent home
alongside Jamie Blamire, Joe Heyes,
George Furbank, Louis Lynagh, Raffi
Quirke, Adam Radwan and Orlando
Bailey, who has a mild hamstring strain.Phil Mickelson has said he will take
time away from golf to work on being
“the man I want to be” after apologising
for the comments he made about Saudi
Arabia and a proposed golf super
league. However, the six-times major
winner claimed that his statements
suggesting it was worth joining forces
with the “scary” Saudi regime, as it
represented a “once in a lifetime oppor-
tunity” to reshape the sport, were made
off the record and not meant to be
shared publicly.
“I’m beyond disappointed and will
make every effort to self-reflect and
learn from this,” Mickelson, 51, said.
“I know I have not been my best and
desperately need some time away to
prioritise the ones I love most and work
on being the man I want to be.”
KPMG yesterday became the first of
Mickelson’s corporate sponsors to
announce an end to their partnership, aMickelson to take break after
apology for Saudi comments
Golf
Tuilagi is in line for
his first Six Nations
action since 2020middle-class sport,” Martinovic said.
“A lot of people think an England
player should conform, behave a
certain way. He was criticised for
swigging beer during a post-match
interview for Leicester, but there were
20-odd players drinking beer. So
what? He’s just being himself.”
The culmination of Genge’s growth
at college came in a tournament in
Japan, where Hartpury faced schools
from New Zealand, South Africa and
Australia. “There was one game when
he came under a huge amount of
provocation, both physically and
racially,” Martinovic said. “You could
tell he was dying to do something but
he just didn’t rise to it. The way he
controlled himself, it just showed how
much he had learnt and matured.”For all his progress, when Genge
returned to play for Bristol, he again
found himself falling in with the
wrong crowd, edging towards trouble.
His parents recognised that he was
better off staying away from home.
“I signed for Bristol and got
arrested again. My mum was like:
‘You’ve got to pack this in,’ ” Genge
said. “My agent had a conversationJenkins: We
have plan to
stop Tuilagi
and Smith
Steve JamesNeil Jenkins has admitted that Wales
will have to be wary of the threat posed
by Manu Tuilagi and Marcus Smith
when they face England at Twicken-
ham on Saturday.
Smith, 23, spent time with Jenkins,
the Wales assistant coach, on the
British & Irish Lions tour in the
summer, while Tuilagi, 30, is expected
to be named in England’s side after
recovering from a hamstring injury.
Wales have had a perennial dilemma
at centre under their head coach,
Wayne Pivac. Nick Tompkins and Ow-
en Watkin started there in the victory
over Scotland, but Jonathan Davies was
superb off the bench and both Willis
Halaholo and Josh Adams are fit again.
“We need to be mindful of what
Manu brings,” Jenkins said. “He brings
a lot to England when he does play.
Whether he is carrying or as a decoy
runner, he certainly attracts defenders.
They can use him in a couple of differ-
ent ways if they need to and I’m sure
they will do that on Saturday. He has
been in the back field off restarts before.
There are lots of things. One thing is
simple: we have to muscle up on him.
He is a big-game player, a big threat to
us, and one we will certainly have to
look after on Saturday.”
Regarding Smith, the fly half, Jenkins
insisted that Dan Biggar, the Wales fly
half who won his 100th Test cap against
Scotland, can match the youngster. “It’s
not easy [to stop Smith],” he said.
“There are a couple of things we have in
mind, which I won’t be sharing. Rushing
up on him is no-go, he just picks you off.
That’s what he wants.
“They’re [Biggar and Smith] two
quality players. Marcus is a fantastic
talent. He came over to South Africa
and spent a few weeks with us on the
Lions tour. He’s got a bright future
ahead of him. His all-round game is ex-
ceptional. He’s a young kid but he plays
with an awful lot of experience. He
plays as if he’s been around for 15 years.
“I’d like to think Biggsy [Biggar]
would be the same from our perspective
towards them. He’s as tough as they
come — he is a winner.”with Richard Cockerill [then
Leicester’s director of rugby] and said,
‘Ellis needs to get out of Bristol.’ ”
The move to Leicester proved to be
the making of him as a front-row
forward. Having made a permanent
move to loose-head, recognising that
he was not tall enough to make it
professionally in the back row, he
became more than a dangerous ball-
carrying threat, honing his set-piece
skills. A few months after moving to
Welford Road, Jones gave him an
international debut from the bench
against Wales, then took him on the
2016 summer tour to Australia. He
had seen something he liked.
Genge’s leadership skills were being
noted too, and when Geordan
Murphy succeeded Cockerill as
director of rugby, he made him
captain when Leicester took an
inexperienced side to Cardiff Blues in
the European Challenge Cup.
“I’d been speaking to him about his
captaincy potential and that game
was an ideal start,” Murphy said. “We
had a very young side and he’s a very
protective character; he stood up for
them and led them to a really good
win. He’ll go to war for his team-
mates and they’ll respond to that.”
Now that he has become Leicester’s
permanent captain, Genge brings a
touch of old-school motivation to the
changing room before a game with
his rousing addresses. “He certainly
knows how to get the boys fired up,
put it that way,” Jasper Wiese, the
Leicester No 8, said.
Genge believes that he has grown
sufficiently as a person, too, to be able
to return to Bristol next season.
When Pat Lam, the Bristol director of
rugby, went to discuss the move with
Genge, he became the latest to get
more than he had bargained for. “We
were supposed to meet for one hour,
but we talked for three,” Lam said. “It
became very clear that he’s absolutely
driven and passionate to come back
and represent his community.”
In recognition of his background,
Genge runs a coaching company
named Baby Rhino — the nickname
coined for him in television
commentary by BT Sport’s Alastair
Eykyn — which provides free
sessions for those children who
cannot pay to attend.
“If there are kids who can’t afford it,
or who are in trouble at school, he’ll
pay for them out of his own pocket,”
Joyce said. “People see Gengey on the
field and make judgments, but they
don’t see all the work he’s doing.”
There is more to Genge than meets
the eye and much more to come from
one of England’s new leaders.ANDREW BOYERS/ACTION IMAGES/REUTERSGenge’s all-round game
Gregory Alldritt (Fr)
Tadhg Beirne (Ire)
Taine Basham (Wales)
Julien Marchand (Fr)
Josh van der Flier (Ire)
Ellis Genge (Eng)
Kyle Sinckler (Eng)
Caelan Doris (Ire)
Tom Curry (Eng)
Alex Dombrandt (Eng)37
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24
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22Most passes by forwards in
the 2022 Six NationsTry assists in the 2022 Six Nations
Antoine Dupont (Fr)
Max Malins (Eng)
Genge (Eng)
Romain Ntamack (Fr)
Darcy Graham (Scot)
Alldritt (Fr)
Joey Carbery (Ire)
Yoram Moefana (Fr)
Finn Russell (Scot)
Mack Hansen (Ire)12 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1