'This is a personal decision': Ellis Genge to leave Leicester

Leicester have been rocked by the revelation that England prop Ellis Genge will leave the Tigers at the end of the 2021/22 season after the club captain decided not to activate an option in his current contract to remain on with the current Gallagher Premiership leaders. He will become the second high profile player to leave next summer as out-half George Ford has already decided he won’t be around for the 2022/23 season and will instead play for Sale.  

It is expected Genge will now sign for Bristol, although there was a rumour last month linking him to Saracens. A Leicester statement read: “Tigers can confirm that Ellis Genge has indicated to the club that he will not be activating an option in his contract to remain beyond the current season.

“The 26-year-old has made 96 appearances for Tigers since his debut during the 2015/16 campaign as a loan signing from his hometown, Bristol. The loosehead prop received a call up to the national squad in 2016 after making the move to Leicester, gaining his first Test cap in May against Wales.

Pablo Matera talks all things Crusaders

Video Player is loading.

Play Video

PauseSkip BackwardSkip Forward

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 12:02

Loaded: 0%

00:00

Stream Type LIVE

Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE

Remaining Time -12:02

 

1x

Playback Rate

Chapters

• Chapters

Descriptions

• descriptions off, selected

Captions

• captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
• captions off, selected

Audio Track

• en (Main), selected

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.

Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

Text

ColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-Transparent

Text Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparent

Caption Area Background

ColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanOpacityTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque

Font Size

50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%

Text Edge Style

NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop shadow

Font Family

Proportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps

ResetDone

Close Modal Dialog

End of dialog window.

Close Modal Dialog

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

Pablo Matera talks all things Crusaders

“Genge joined the club on a permanent basis ahead of the 2016/17 season and was appointed club-captain ahead of the current campaign, replacing Tom Youngs in the role.”

Leicester boss Steve Borthwick said: “This is a personal decision for Ellis, which I know has not been easy for him. While disappointed, we respect his reasons for choosing to depart at the season’s end.

Why Leicester have suddenly become so competitive despite their budgetary challenges…#Leicester #HeinekenChampionsCup #GallagherPrem
https://t.co/KEBopuqZ3f

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 14, 2021

“It has been a great privilege of mine to work with Ellis over the past five years, first with England and even more closely since I joined the club. We have a long way to go this season and Ellis is fully committed to finishing his time at Leicester Tigers in the same professional, passionate way he has during his six seasons at the club.”

Genge added: “I will be forever grateful for what this club has given me. I have created lifelong friendships and learned a great deal. The club has been amazing in understanding my reasons for this decision and I will continue to give everything I have got for the boys and the fans of Leicester Tigers for the rest of this season.”