Steve Borthwick: England skipper Maro Itoje world class but can get even better during Six Nations
New England captain Maro Itoje is "world class" but can get "even better" according to head coach Steve Borthwick ahead of the start of the 2025 Six Nations.
The 30-year-old Saracens lock was announced as club team-mate Jamie George's replacement to skipper the national side earlier this month, and will lead England when they open their championship campaign away to defending champions Ireland on Saturday February 1.
Speaking to Sky Sports at Tuesday's Six Nations launch, Borthwick said:
"Maro is a world class player, but he can get even better and add other elements to his game.
"He's a player who thinks deeply about the game, but also plays in a fiercely competitive way. And that balance is a great example for all our players.
"In every great team I've been involved in, there's always a great group of leaders. Having Maro step up, Ellis Genge as vice-captain, we are developing great leaders.
"My expectations, the players expectations and the supporters expectations are that we go into each game with a plan to win the game and belief to win the game.
"We've got a really good group of players that I have trust, faith and confidence in."
Itoje was described by previous England head coach Eddie Jones as too 'inward-looking' to make captain during his time in charge.
The second row admits the call by Borthwick caught him off guard, and added the loss of George - who has since suffered a hamstring injury and been ruled out of England opener against Ireland - will be felt by the squad.
"I definitely was surprised," Itoje told Sky Sports. "Jamie is a brilliant person so I didn't really expect it.
"I'm incredibly honoured, grateful and humbled to be asked to do the role.
"Jamie is a quality player and person, so whenever you don't have someone like that in and around the group, we're definitely going to miss him and we wish him a speedy recovery."
Sky Sports News' James Cole...
"There are a number of significant injuries in this latest squad update, not least Jamie George. Just a week after being relieved of the captaincy he picked up a hamstring injury playing for Saracens and is now set to miss England's Six Nations opener in Dublin a week on Saturday.
"George will be a big loss both on and off the field, his experience and leadership will be missed in what is a relatively young, evolving team, and it means new skipper Maro Itoje will be without a very reliable lieutenant.
"England do have a lot of depth at hooker and what this means is Luke Cowan-Dickie is in pole position to start in Dublin.
"There are also issues at scrum-half. Leicester's Jack van Poortvliet has withdrawn from the squad, while Northampton's Alex Mitchell is a doubt.
"Were Mitchell not to be fit for Dublin, he would be a huge loss. They missed him during the autumn and he's been England's first-choice scrum-half since the World Cup just over a year ago.
"The good news is Mitchell is travelling to Girona for England's warm weather camp and will rehab from there. That is a good sign."
