Maro Itoje backed to lead England to World Cup after Borthwick demotes Jamie George
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.”
George will remain a vice-captain alongside Ellis Genge with Henry Slade and George Ford dropping out of the senior leadership group altogether. Borthwick admitted that breaking the news to the Saracens hooker was one of his most difficult conversations as a head coach.
“Jamie is somebody I’ve known for a very long time,” said Borthwick. “And he’s a wonderful rugby player and I think he’s, for such a long time now, been central in this England team and such an incredible influence in English rugby.
“So, I’d say it was a challenging conversation. He was clearly disappointed but he’s also always putting the team first. So we spoke a number of times, I’d say he’s disappointed because he’s a proud Englishman who was very proud to be captain of this team.
“But I also know that he’s going to be always supporting whoever is leading the team.”
‘Maro was delighted – and very humble’
After the hard part came the easy part. The news was broken to Itoje in a Harpenden coffee shop on Monday near the Saracens training base, and his delight was immediately evident to former England captain Borthwick.
“I spoke to Maro yesterday about it and when I asked him to captain the team, the smile that spread across his face could have lit up the whole of England,” Borthwick said. “He was delighted – and very humble. He will do everything he can to help serve this team and be the best leader he can.
“We met in a quiet spot and I was delighted he accepted. Obviously, I think he’s a great leader. He’s a guy I’ve seen from being like a schoolboy when I was a player at Saracens and seeing him start to come through. We saw the emergence then of somebody who was always going on to be a world-class player. He had the attributes to be a world-class player then, led England to an Under-20s World Cup. He’s then gone on and played for England more than 80 times, and now he is a truly world-class player who we all have incredible respect for. So I’m glad he’s going to be the captain of the team going forward.”
Borthwick has named Ford alongside the two Smiths, Fin and Marcus, as his fly-half trio, with all three having been selected for enhanced EPS contracts last year. The likelihood is that one of the triumvirate will miss out on a spot in England’s match-day 23 and, while Borthwick sees Marcus Smith as a fly-half, the head coach suggested that the Harlequins player’s versatility might be put to use.
“I think Marcus is a 10 who can play at 15,” said Borthwick. “That’s a conversation I had with Marcus, and he sees it the same way.
“I know his preferred position is 10, but he is a player who is incredibly dangerous in space. Clearly, I’ve started him in a 15 shirt for England and then most recently started him at 10 and then moved him back to 15 later in games; having that versatility is important, but he’s a 10 that can play 15.”
There was no place for tighthead duo Dan Cole and Trevor Davison, lock Charlie Ewels, nor scrum-half Ben Spencer in Borthwick’s squad after the autumn. Joe Heyes and Asher Opoku-Fordjour have been preferred at tighthead but Borthwick insisted the door is still open for the 37-year-old Cole.
Borthwick said: “I’ve had a number of conversations with Dan and when I spoke to him yesterday it was: ‘Make sure your phone is on and you are in good condition, because I need you to be ready.’ He has absolutely assured me that he will be ready to go.”
At lock, the head coach will lean on the versatility of Ollie Chessum alongside Alex Coles for cover for Itoje and George Martin. At scrum-half, Alex Mitchell, Jack van Poortvliet and Harry Randall will fight for the No 9 jersey.
Tom Willis has been rewarded for his scintillating form for Saracens, where he will vie with Alex Dombrandt and club team-mate Ben Earl for the starting No 8 spot.
Harlequins duo Cadan Murley and Oscar Beard are the only uncapped players in Borthwick’s squad, meaning there is no place for Northampton’s promising flanker, Henry Pollock.
Seven players have been listed for rehabilitation: Afo Fasogbon, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, George Furbank, Gabriel Ibitoye, Nick Isiekwe, Luke Northmore and Sam Underhill.
England start the Six Nations in Dublin, facing defending champions Ireland before welcoming France, Scotland and Italy to Twickenham. Borthwick’s side close the championship with a trip to Cardiff to take on Wales.
12:32 PM GMT
Readers’ views
12:19 PM GMT
Club-by-club breakdown
Sale - Seven (Cowan-Dickie, B Curry, T Curry, Ford, Opoku-Fordjour, Rodd, Roebuck)
Harlequins - Six (Baxter, Beard, Cunningham-South, Dombrandt, Murley, M Smith)
Northampton - Six (Coles, Dingwall, Freeman, Mitchell, Sleightholme, F Smith)
Saracens - Six (Dan, Daly, Earl, George, Itoje, Willis)
Leicester - Five (Chessum, Heyes, Martin, Steward, Van Poortvliet)
Bath - Three (Hill, Lawrence, Stuart)
Bristol - Two (Genge, Randall)
Exeter - One (Slade)
No players from Gloucester or Newcastle.
12:01 PM GMT
Borthwick on improvements, Six Nations fixtures and Ireland
You see a team that has pace. Over the last 12 months you have seen the amount of ball movement has increased. The point of difference for this team is going to be how we attack with ball in hand.
Absolutely [it’s a tough start]. We had players together last week for a day and I sense real excitement to get going.
Over the last number of years you have seen an Ireland team that has grown together, played a lot of games together, has cohesion. Clearly really well coached and organised and full of very good players. It will be a great challenge for us. The players will jump right into it.
11:59 AM GMT
Borthwick on captaincy
There were a number of factors to consider, where the team is at and what it needs for the next spell. Blessed to have a lot of good leaders.
Maro is a world-class player who has the respect of everybody. Jamie’s done a great job captaining this side the last 12 months. With Ellis Genge and Ben Earl we have a great group of leaders.
Jamie is disappointed as anybody would be. He’s a very proud Englishman. One of his great strengths as a person and player is putting the team first.
Maro playing 80 minutes is one of the factors. If you asked any coach the preference would be to have that.
11:56 AM GMT
Borthwick is here
A few live updates over the next few minutes.
11:55 AM GMT
Have your say...
11:42 AM GMT
Boosts for England with Chessum and Mitchell back
You could definitely see both of Ollie Chessum and Alex Mitchell coming straight back into England’s starting side for Dublin, even though Chessum is yet to play since his ankle injury in October.
He could feature this weekend against Toulouse and may miss England’s Girona training camp to get more minutes under his belt against Gloucester next week as well.
11:37 AM GMT
Players who have missed out
Dan Cole
Trevor Davison
Charlie Ewels
Ben Spencer
No word yet on whether Cole has officially retired from Test rugby but at 37, you cannot rule it out. We’ll find out more from Borthwick when he speaks at midday.
11:34 AM GMT
Maro Itoje on being named England captain
I am incredibly humbled and honoured to have been asked by Steve to be England captain. It’s a truly incredible privilege for both me and my family, and I feel grateful to have been given this opportunity.
With the role comes a great deal of responsibility, but I’m at a point in my career where I feel ready to give my all to serve the team and the fans with the captaincy, and also produce my best on the field.
It’s reassuring to know there is a group of senior players to support me and help build on the achievements of Jamie, who has led the team brilliantly and who has been a great friend and leader for so many years.
I am excited by the squad of players we have, who are all hungry for success, and I look forward to leading them out for the forthcoming Six Nations.
11:33 AM GMT
Here is Steve Borthwick
I’ve selected a squad where every player brings something unique to the group. The Six Nations is always a fiercely contested and exciting tournament, and this year will be no exception.
We’re looking forward to the squad coming together in Girona to kick off our preparations for the opening challenge against Ireland in Dublin.With 88 England caps, Maro has been a central figure in this squad for many years, bringing a vast amount of experience both on and off the field.
He’s a calm, influential leader, renowned for his commitment to upholding high standards and his ability to motivate those around him.
His strong rapport with the squad and coaches, combined with his leadership experience at Saracens, makes him ideally placed to take on this responsibility.
I’d like to recognise the outstanding leadership of Jamie George, whose contributions as captain have been significant and will continue to play an important role as a vice-captain.
11:30 AM GMT
The squad in full
England’s 36-player training squad
Forwards:
Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 6 caps)
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 44 caps)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 11 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 6 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 56 caps)
Theo Dan (Saracens, 16 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 20 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 37 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 66 caps) – vice-captain
Jamie George (Saracens, 97 caps) – vice-captain
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Ted Hill (Bath, 2 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 88 caps) – captain
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks, 1 cap)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 7 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath, 45 caps)
Tom Willis (Saracens, 1 cap)
Backs:
Oscar Beard (Harlequins, uncapped)
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 69 caps)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 98 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 15 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath, 31 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 18 caps)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 11 caps)
Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 69 caps)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 39 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 35 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 16 caps)
Rehabilitation: Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), and Sam Underhill (Bath).
11:30 AM GMT
The big headlines
Maro Itoje named England captain
Dan Cole omitted
Tom Willis selected
Henry Pollock not named in the squad
11:25 AM GMT
Five minutes to go
Some squad announcements come with few headlines. This is not one of those squad announcements.
11:23 AM GMT
A reminder of England’s fixture list
They could not have a harder start. England have not won in Dublin since 2019 and their last victory against France anywhere was 2021.
Saturday 1 February
Ireland v England
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 4.45pm GMT
Live on ITV
Saturday 8 February
England v France
Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), London
Kick-off: 4.45pm GMT
Live on ITV
Saturday 22 February
England v Scotland
Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), London
Kick-off: 4.45pm GMT
Live on ITV
Sunday 9 March
England v Italy
Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), London
Kick-off: 3.00pm GMT
Live on ITV
Saturday 15 March
Wales v England
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 4.45pm GMT
Live on BBC
11:19 AM GMT
Marcus Smith - where will he play?
Daniel Schofield recently spoke to the England No 10 about positions, influences and Fin Smith.
The way I have learnt my rugby, the way I have grown up I was watching guys like Carlos Spencer and the Fijian rugby sevens team. You are a product of your environment and your upbringing. That’s what I was exposed to from a very young age. I guess that’s the picture I have in my mind of how I see rugby and that’s the beauty of sport and of rugby in that everyone sees the game slightly differently.
11:11 AM GMT
From overnight - Marler representing players at the top table
Joe Marler, the former England prop who retired in November, has been appointed as interim performance director for Team England Rugby. He’s discussed his new role on Ben Youngs and Dan Cole’s ‘For The Love of Rugby’ podcast.
Although it sounds posh and official, it’s basically having the backs of the England rugby team and doing a lot of the work for them, admin work, conversations between DOR [directors of rugby], clubs and the RFU to make sure that they feel supported in decisions from operations or welfare.
Here are Daniel Schofield’s thoughts on Marler’s appointment.
I cannot say I had Marler acting as a shop steward on my bingo list for 2025 but in nearly every respect he would be perfect for the role. Recently retired with a direct connection to this generation of players, Marler’s greatest gift is that he absolutely will not bite his lip.
11:08 AM GMT
A win off the field for England already
Their long pursuit of Phil Morrow from Saracens appears to be over, as Gavin Mairs reports.
Morrow, who has previously worked for both Ireland and the British and Irish Lions in a similar role, has been a key contributor to Saracens’ title-winning dynasty and will now join up with England at the end of the season as they prepare for the summer tour to Argentina.
11:01 AM GMT
I’ve seen the squad
Half an hour to go. A few large, significant surprises...
10:48 AM GMT
Welcome
Morning everyone, not long to go now until we find out who Steve Borthwick has selected in his England squad ahead of the 2025 Six Nations next month.
Asking around yesterday the word was that we should not expect too many major changes from the group in the autumn, although there is obviously one in-form player we have to talk about. Tom Willis coming at No 8 and potentially starting would be fair reward for a player who has had to bide his time waiting for a longer run with England, but can add so much to their attacking game with his ball-carrying. He is also an incredibly handy defender, winning multiple turnovers per game much like his brother, Jack, who is no longer available for England duty based down in Toulouse.
Willis really should be in the squad but we have seen Borthwick stay loyal to familiar players in the past. Would Willis come in and Alex Dombrandt, a reliable option for England off the bench last year, go out? There is also the matter of how do you fit Willis and Ben Earl into the same back row. Saracens have often used Earl at seven with Willis at eight, but Earl has been England’s starting No 8 now dating back to the warm-up defeat to Fiji before the last Rugby World Cup. Lots of wrinkles to consider.
The other exciting name recently, Henry Pollock, has so much potential, scoring two tries for Northampton on Saturday night in Paris. The suggestion on Monday was that while Pollock did attend last week’s alignment camp, that is no guarantee that he will be selected in the main squad this time around. England ‘A’ notably play Ireland ‘A’ next month at Ashton Gate, a game you would absolutely expect Pollock to be involved in.
Lots to ponder but we should have some answers soon, stay here for more updates. I can also confirm that the Twickenham car park - surprisingly icy.
