Ellis Genge issues apology to England fans after heavy defeat to Ireland

England suffered their heaviest ever home defeat to Ireland at Twickenham SportRugbyRugby UnionEllis Genge issues apology to England fans after heavy defeat to IrelandEngland suffered their heaviest ever home defeat to Ireland at TwickenhamDuncan Bech Saturday 21 February 2026 18:32 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverEllis Genge apologised to the England fans (Getty Images)Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreEllis Genge apologised to England fans for the abysmal 42-21 defeat by Ireland that has ended their Six Nations title aspirations.Genge admits his team are unable to explain how a week after they were outfought by Scotland at Murrayfield, they repeated many of the same mistakes to allow Ireland to run riot at Allianz Stadium."What do you do?" Genge told BBC Sport. "Two weeks in a row conceding so many points in the first 15 minutes."There is no mountain to climb after that and everyone has to take a look at themselves. No one knows what the answer is right now or we would have sorted it out."It opened up scar tissue from last week. We have to be better at managing that period and stop turning the ball over."It's brutal, professional sport because if you get five per cent wrong it's gone. We probably believed the hype from the first week too much. We can't let the noise in now."Sorry to the fans, you have been outstanding, we have let everyone down, apologies for that but I promise we will make it better. We are going to go away and work as hard as we can to go away and rectify things."When asked about the end of their title bid, Genge said: "I'm gutted, I wanted to win. It's tough but that is what professional sport is and she's a nasty mistress sometimes."PAMore aboutEllis GengeEngland RugbyIreland RugbyJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesCommentsMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next