LONDON (Reuters) – England coach Steve Borthwick has made lock Maro Itoje his new captain in place of Jamie George, though the hooker was still included in the 36-man training squad he named for the Six Nations on Tuesday.
George took over the captaincy from Owen Farrell after the 2023 World Cup but has routinely been taken off early in recent matches, with Itoje taking over the captaincy duties.
In the November internationals George was replaced after 52 minutes against New Zealand, 50 against Australia, 48 against South Africa and 47 against Japan.
George has 97 caps and remains a vice-captain.
Itoje, 30, has 88 caps and has long been touted as captaincy material after leading the under-20s team to their Junior World Cup triumph in 2014.
“He is a calm, influential leader, renowned for his commitment to upholding high standards and his ability to motivate those around him,” Borthwick said of the Saracens second row.
“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.”
Itoje said: “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.”
Uncapped Harlequins backs Oscar Beard and Cadan Murley were included in the squad, as was Tom Willis, who has been in great form at Number Eight for Saracens and he can expect to win a second cap after a sole appearance in a World Cup warm up game in 2023.
Notable absentees are veteran prop Dan Cole, scrumhalf Ben Spencer and promising Northampton flanker Henry Pollock, who turned 20 on Tuesday and was widely tipped to be involved.
England begin their Six Nations campaign away to Ireland on Feb. 1 and then host France the following week.
England training squad for Six Nations:
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 Rugby, 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 Rugby, 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 Rugby, 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)
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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