3 minute read
England's autumn continues to be disrupted by COVID-19 after prop Ellis Genge was ruled out of Saturday's clash with Australia after returning a positive test.
England's Australian coach Eddie Jones says his players have been left with a mixture of anger, disappointment and resignation after losing starting prop Ellis Genge to a positive COVID-19 test on the eve of their clash with the Wallabies.
The Wallabies' own woes at prop have been bizarrely mirrored by their opponents ahead of the Twickenham clash on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT).
While Australia lost both preferred tighthead options Alan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou with head knocks, England are now without two looseheads after Genge was ruled out after another dramatic morning in the home camp.
It comes after veteran Joe Marler was also forced into self-isolation, missing the Cook Cup clash, as England faced a second consecutive week of COVID-19 disruption.
"Genge returned a positive PCR result this morning (Friday) from a test taken yesterday. He immediately went into isolation," a Rugby Football Union statement read.
Revealing that Bevan Rodd will replace Genge on Saturday, with Trevor Davison named on the bench, Jones said: "We just treat it as normal now. Every day is an adventure, we're on a bit of a roller-coaster at the moment.
"COVID keeps coming and we just accept it and get on with it.
"Everyone has mixed emotions - some players are disappointed for Ellis, others are angry, others just want to get on with it.
"We've just got on with it and the senior players spoke really well at a short team meeting, got everyone back on the same page.
"It's a chance for us to show what strength we have as a team and how we can support these young guys coming through.
"It is a great opportunity for a young lad like Bevan Rodd to play his first Test at Twickenham against our arch enemies Australia. We have the greatest confidence in him.
"We're disappointed for Ellis, he is such a big part of our team, but it is a great opportunity for the squad to step up."
"He's not sick at all, which is obviously the frustrating thing for him."
Owen Farrell, who will be earning his 100th cap, experienced the same disappointment as Genge last week when a positive COVID-19, which was later revealed to be a false positive, kept him out of the Tonga Test.
"I had a bit of it last week. It's very disappointing for the individual, especially having to isolate, you can go through different emotions,"said Farrell.
"I was excited last week to get back. I was buzzing to play and then not to get the chance was disappointing. But I'm thankful I'm here."