‘I don’t want to see rugby on its ass’ – Ellis Genge weighs in on England hybrid contracts

England’s Ellis Genge during the team run at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. Picture date: Friday February 23, 2024.

England prop Ellis Genge has voiced his opinion on hybrid contracts for players and hopes its introduction will translate to the success enjoyed by Ireland and New Zealand.

Recent reports suggest there has been a delay in getting deals over the line, with Saracens hooker Jamie George and second-row Maro Itoje having not yet put pen to paper.

One would assume that Genge is likely to be another international star who will sign on the dotted line, but for now, he hopes the deals can give rugby a much-needed boost.

Great opportunity

“I don’t know until we get the intricacies of the contract sorted. I’m reasonably impartial, I want the game to grow. If this is what’s going to make the game grow then brilliant,” he told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.

“Rugby’s either going to skyrocket and be extremely popular or it’s going to dwindle a bit. I don’t want to see the latter, I don’t want to see rugby on its ass.

“We’ve got a great opportunity with a great crop of young players coming through to really take control of it and, if that is in the hands of a hybrid contract, then I’m all for it.”

He added: “There are discussions going on. If we really want to optimise performance, if you look at Ireland’s model and New Zealand as well, it seems to work.”

These hybrid contracts, of which up to 25 could be awarded, appear to have stalled, although the RFU insist they are on course to be rolled out later this year.

“I honestly know as much as the tabloids do to a certain degree. We’re obviously involved in the conversations but, because we were in a World Cup, because we were in a Six Nations and wanted to perform, we haven’t had much time to speak,” Genge added.

“I like doing it in the flesh, so obviously, people’s schedules have to line up.”

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Genge, who is part of Team England Rugby Ltd after several players’ recent split from the Rugby Players Association, wants to improve players’ commercial value in the sport.

He was asked by podcast host and former England flanker James Haskell how the negotiation process has gone with the RFU.

“It’s been good, both parties want it to work because obviously that’s a good relationship, you don’t want there to be conflict between the two, but there actually hasn’t been much opportunity to negotiate,” he said.

“We probably thought it was going to be a lot quicker but in the real world – the business world – it’s tough to make schedules line up.

“We’re playing each week, you’ve got to focus on the club competitions and stuff like that. It’s a bit of a challenge at the moment but hopefully we’ll push on.”

His decision to form the group alongside fellow England stars George, Itoje, Joe Marler and Anthony Watson is part of a drive to make the players “idols and stars”.

“If you look at the numbers for the RFU in general, they’re going up. This goes back to making players idols and stars,” he explained.

More control

“The players’ commercial value has stayed the same since about 2011, before the big social media surge of Instagram and stuff like that. We wanted an onus on how we control our commercial value as opposed to it always being the same since the beginning of time.

“We wanted more control over that, and that was one of the main pushes, but in the same sense, we want to better the game.

“We want to have control and answer to ourselves essentially of how we push the game forward, not to have to jump through all these loopholes.

He added: “We are the commercial product, so to speak, we are the people that fans come to watch play. We wanted clarity over what was happening over the use of our commercial image.

“Everyone just thinks, ‘they just want more money, they’re the best paid union in the world’. It’s not that, it goes a lot deeper.”