Maro Itoje’s promotion an admission of England’s urgent need for fresh impetus | Robert Kitson
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The captaincy is due reward for a fine player – but for Steve Borthwick, it comes with one or two risks attached. England no longer announce their new captains with a grand theatrical flourish. Back in 1996 Bath’s Phil de Glanville had to lie down in the back of the taxi taking him to Twickenham so no one could identify the skipper poised to replace Will Carling before he was unveiled dramatically from behind a large curtain like a nervous contestant in Stars in Their Eyes.
![[Steve Borthwick and Jamie George before England’s match against Australia in November 2024. ]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cb5e7d6a1a0315859ff537a9495de7c73515ec90/0_17_5335_3200/master/5335.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Fast forward to 2025 and Maro Itoje, the 136th man chosen to lead his country, was not even present for his inauguration. People like to talk about spreading the rugby gospel and here was another example of how not to do it. A good news story (if not for poor old Jamie George) and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Itoje to strike a smiling pose for the snappers and propel English rugby back on to the front pages? Nah, we’ll just stick out a bog-standard press release.
Steve Borthwick, the head coach, was at least wheeled out to say how thrilled Itoje looked when he was informed of his new role and how disappointed George was to learn of his demotion. And to field the inevitable media questions which boiled down to two main lines of inquiry: was he making the switch because George is no longer guaranteed a starting place or was it more about signalling the need for a collective squad reset after a disappointing autumn?.
The truth probably resides at a postcode somewhere in between. In some ways it is a cosmetic tweak: one well-regarded Saracens forward is replacing another. At 34 George will struggle to make the next World Cup in 2027 while Itoje, who already has 88 caps, could have been lobbed the starting armband some time ago. As recently as 12 months ago, however, Borthwick was trumpeting a bold new post-World Cup era under George. If it was all going swimmingly there would be no pressing need to throw everything up in the air again now.
