Maro Itoje named new England captain as Jamie George demoted for 80-minute struggles
Share:
Maro Itoje has been backed to captain England to the 2027 Rugby World Cup as Steve Borthwick shook up his leadership group by demoting incumbent captain Jamie George for the Six Nations Championship. Itoje, who also assumed the Saracens captaincy for the first time this season, will take over from his club-mate George after the hooker led the side last year following the 2023 World Cup.
Playing for the full 80 minutes was a key factor in Borthwick naming Itoje, 30, as skipper of England’s 36-player squad. Throughout an autumn campaign in which Borthwick’s side fell away in the final quarter of matches – losing three of their four Tests – the spotlight had fallen on the captaincy, given the tendency to replace George midway through the second half. The head coach admitted that a full 80-minute captain had formed part of his thinking.
“It’s one of the factors, definitely,” Borthwick said. “If you ask any coach, the preference would always be to have the captain on for 80 minutes. That’s not always possible and there are plenty of exceptions to that case. But I generally think that would generally be most coaches’ preferences.
“I think when you’re making a decision like that, there’s always a number of factors to consider – where the team’s at in the game, what you feel the team needs in this next spell. We’re blessed to have a lot of good leaders within this squad, so I feel really privileged to have the opportunity to appoint Maro as captain.”.
Regarding whether fans could expect the 88-times-capped Itoje, whose showed early leadership qualities by guiding England Under-20s to world championship glory only to have them doubted by previous head coach Eddie Jones, to lead England at the 2027 World Cup in Australia, Borthwick added: “As we sit here right now, yes, I don’t see why not.”.
