Maro Itoje urges England to ‘seize the moment’ in clash with Scotland

England seeking a first win since 2020 over their Calcutta Cup rivals. England captain Maro Itoje has urged his side to “seize the moment” against Scotland and prove they are growing as a team. Steve Borthwick’s side achieved a long-awaited win in their last outing against France as they at last got over the line in a tight game after a year of near misses.

After a similarly sizeable upset against Ireland during the 2024 Six Nations, England came close repeatedly against some of the world’s top sides but were unable to secure a second statement victory. Fears of another false dawn will heighten if Scotland extend their run of Calcutta Cup dominance, with the visitors chasing an unprecedented fifth straight success against the Auld Enemy on Saturday.

But Itoje is confident his side have learned from their recent experiences and can take the next step in their development. “We need to seize our moments,” Itoje said. “In any game you have a finite amount of moments that are there for you to take. In the games after that Ireland win, whether it was France or in new Zealand and beyond, we had those moments but we didn’t seize them. Our opportunity now is to seize the moment.

“Scotland are a good team, no doubt. Their record against us dictates that. But I believe that if we do our job when get into those moments, when we have those opportunities and we take advantage and execute I believe we will do well. “That's the growth. If we want to be a great team then we have to beat some tough teams and then beat some more tough teams. If we want to be the team that we want to be, that's the journey we have to follow. We played France and we got it done, a tight win; we are playing Scotland - a tight win, hopefully - and that's the growth. If we continue on that trajectory then we're going to be moving closer to the type of team that we want to be.

“We have had some tough [experiences], some where we have demonstrated what we are about, where we've grown. I feel the team is ready and hungry to win those encounters. Two weeks ago was an example of the growth. Now it's about growth on growth and to make sure that we are moving in a positive direction.”.

Itoje was appointed captain ahead of this campaign and is closing in on a century of caps having been a first-choice pick ever since making his debut in 2016. The lock told The Independent in October that he was not a player who simply wanted to accumulate appearances without tangible success in terms of trophies. The 30-year-old hopes that the England fans hold his side to high standards.

“We want to be a team that wins on a regular basis, we don’t want to be a team that fans are expecting disappointing results from,” Itoje said. “England, the fans and perhaps the media, demand that the team win. “I don’t want to play for a low-expectation team, I don’t want to play for a team that no one thinks they can do anything, no one thinks they can achieve anything, and they have little potential. I think this team has great potential. It’s up to us as players, staff and coaches to harness that into the team we want to be.”.

Past England captains have spoken of the challenges of balancing preparing themselves for Test match battle with ensuring that their team is in the right place. Itoje believes that the best approach is to focus on himself and ensure that he is leading from the front each week.

“The best way I can serve the team is to make sure that I’m right, make sure that I play well, make sure that I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to do,” he explained. “Whilst I am captain, the big priority for me is that I’m being the player that I want to be because everything else flows from there. If I’m not doing that then what I say doesn’t matter, it loses credibility and I won’t be in the position very long.