Ellis Genge on growing up in Knowle West and how rugby saved him from prison

Bristol-born England player Ellis Genge has spoken candidly about growing up in Knowle West and how playing rugby most likely saved him from going to prison.

The Leicester Tigers loosehead prop also spoke about a mentor he had when he was younger, teacher Lloyd Russell, who encouraged him “to actually start to behave a little bit”.

“I went down the wrong path numerous times,” said 26-year-old Genge on the England Rugby podcast, O2 Inside Line, which sees players telling their own stories in their own words.

He added: “Rugby definitely saved me. It saved me from prison time for sure. Definitely would have ended up in the nick at some stage if it wasn’t for rugby. It saved me from just throwing my life away really.”

Listen to Genge talking on O2 Inside Line:

Genge first played at Knowle Park Primary School in the summer after Year 6 when he was 11.

“Knowle for people who don’t know the area too well. It’s a lot of redbrick houses, a big council estate. It’s like a little bit south but it’s still at the heart of Bristol. It’s just like a real hearty place.”

The player known as ‘baby rhino’, also the name of his rugby coaching clinics, called his home neighbourhood “a mad community-driven area, a very vibrant place to say the least”.

“I used to cop a bit of grief for looking completely different. People said some horrible stuff as you can imagine.

“In my eyes, what I would consider a relatively normal childhood, but when you come into rugby you realise that’s not the case.”

Genge said that he used only to be comfortable in Knowle West, and it was not until he was 13 or 14 that he would go elsewhere in Bristol, other than his rugby training at Old Redcliffians in Brislington.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ng0FxuIPSI

“I was so hungry for it when I was younger because I wanted to prove a point to everyone, that the people who went to better schools than me…

“It was never ever Knowle Park junior school, things like that you know, and that didn’t sit very well with me.”

Genge left Bristol at 16 to become a boarder at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire. He played 26 times for Bristol between 2013 and 2016, before joining Leicester in order not to drift back into bad habits in Knowle.

“I used to do some things I probably won’t ever speak about, but you can use your imagination.

“It was just the area it was, you know. It was heavily influenced by drugs. It’s just that culture. It’s just the way it was. It’s just what Knowle is.

“Poverty breeds crime doesn’t it. So, it’s not a very affluent area, so there’s a lot of it.”

In February, Ellis Genge was announced as Umbro’s newest rugby ambassador – photo: Umbro

“I’m just proud to be where I’m from,” Genge added. “I don’t think there’s ever been anyone from Knowle West to go on to play professional rugby…

“I actually aspired when I first started playing to just be a number eight at Old Reds, my local team. That’s all I ever wanted to do, play number eight for Old Reds in the derby against Harlequins. I never thought I was going to achieve this…

“Rugby opened my eyes to worlds I never imagined existed, being from that small bubble in BS4, showed me that people can get on regardless of where you’re from, yeah, just gave me a good life.”

Main photo: England Rugby

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