Declan Rice: England midfielder explains decision not to celebrate on Ireland return

Declan Rice says celebrating his goal against the Republic of Ireland in England’s 2-0 Nations League win would have been disrespectful to his family.

England were comfortable 2-0 winners in Lee Carsley’s first game in interim charge, with goalscorers Rice and Jack Grealish subjected to boos by the Irish fans for their decision to switch allegiances.

Rice, who made three senior appearances for Ireland, told Sky Sports News: “To have celebrated, it would have been really disrespectful of me.

“My nan and grandad, my dad’s side of the family are all Irish and they’ve obviously passed away. They’re not here anymore.

“I didn’t want to do that, to be honest with you.”

He added: “I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland, even in the first team, the U19s, U21s, They were great memories that live with me. So, look, I don’t have a bad word to say, to be honest with you. I wish them all the best.”

Rice rejected taking the armband from Harry Kane when he was substituted, preferring to let John Stones take on the captaincy duties late on.

But he said this was more to do with the Manchester City defender’s seniority than anything else.

“Harry Kane obviously tried to give me the armband, but obviously Stones is probably more senior and experienced than me. And, yeah, I just said to Harry, probably John deserves it more than me,” Rice said.

“So, I said to ‘give to John’ and, yeah, that was it. It doesn’t need to be made into a bigger thing. I think John’s one of the more senior ones and usually he’s captain when Harry doesn’t play. So, I think it was the right decision.”

Grealish: No bad blood over Irish boos

Grealish, who represented Ireland at youth level before picking England, did not hold back on his celebration as he scored on his international return after being snubbed for the Euro 2024 squad.

But he said he has no issues with the reception he received on his return to Ireland.

“It’s what me and Dec expected,” he told ITV. “I said before the game, it’s different; we have nothing bad to say.

“We both enjoyed our time playing here, I have a lot of Irish in my family. There’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.”

City midfielder Grealish hopes he can build on his impressive first-half display for England and regain his starting spot for club and country after a difficult 12 months.

“I need to start playing regularly and scoring goals, and that’s what I did today,” he added.

“I did that today and didn’t feel 100 per cent fit, fit, but I’m happy.”