Maro Itoje named new England captain as Jamie George demoted for 80-minute struggles

Maro Itoje. Photo / Photosport

By Charles Richardson

Maro Itoje has been named England captain in a leadership shake-up for rugby’s Six Nations, with a key factor behind Steve Borthwick’s decision being Jamie George’s inability to play a full 80 minutes.

Itoje, who has also assumed the Saracens captaincy for the first time this season, will take over from his club teammate George, who led the side following the 2023 World Cup.

Borthwick made Itoje, 30, skipper today as the head coach named England’s 36-player squad for the 2025 Six Nations. 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 England head coach admitted that a full 80-minute captaincy 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.”

George Ford drops out of the senior leadership group entirely, with hooker George taking up a role as vice-captain alongside Ellis Genge. While the Saracens front-rower was “disappointed” to be relieved of his duties as the principal leader, Borthwick said he would “always put the team first”.

“Jamie’s disappointed, as anybody would be,” added the head coach. “He’s a very proud Englishman and he’s led the team over the last 12 months with a great deal of pride. So there’s disappointment. One of Jamie’s great strengths as a leader, as a person, as a player, is that he’s always put the team first. Having spoken to him, that’s what his intent is.”

In the wider squad, there was no place for tighthead duo Dan Cole and Trevor Davison, lock Charlie Ewels, nor scrum-half Ben Spencer. Joe Heyes and Asher Opoku-Fordjour have been preferred at tighthead while, at lock, Borthwick will lean on the versatility of Ollie Chessum and Alex Coles for cover. At halfback, Alex Mitchell, Jack van Poortvliet and Harry Randall will fight for the No 9 jersey.

Up front, Tom Willis is rewarded for his scintillating form for Saracens, where he will vie with Alex Dombrandt and club teammate 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 as joining the group for rehabilitation: Afo Fasogbon, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, George Furbank, Gabriel Ibitoye, Nick Isiekwe, Luke Northmore and Sam Underhill.

England start the Six Nations with a trip to Dublin to face defending champions Ireland before welcoming France, Scotland and Italy to Twickenham. Borthwick’s side close the championship with a trip to Cardiff.

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)