England have named Maro Itoje as their captain for the Six Nations – taking on the role from Jamie George – with World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio insisting any skipper must be deserving of a starting spot
Maro Itoje has been named the new England captain – replacing Jamie George England World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio insists you “only captain the team if you’re worth your place in the team” following the decision to take the captaincy off Jamie George before the Six Nations.
Maro Itoje will instead captain England when they begin their championship in Ireland on Saturday evening. The second row replaces his club team-mate George, who will now miss the tournament opener in Dublin after picking up a recent injury.
Steve Borthwick has cited a desire to have a captain who will remain on the pitch for the 80 minutes. Back in November George was regularly withdrawn, coming off with half an hour to play against the All Blacks.
Luke Cowan-Dickie will play at hooker against Ireland with George absent as the former skipper faces a battle to regain his starting role when fit – just weeks after losing the captaincy.
Dallaglio told Mirror Sport : “It is something that Steve Borthwick obviously feels like he’s needed to do for quite some time. I’ve been a big fan of Jamie as captain. The explanation has been that he (Steve) wants someone who’s on the field for 80 minutes. Maro fulfils that criteria and is captain for his club.”
The Wasps icon added, based on his experience: “You only captain the team if you’re worth your place in the team so it opens the door for Steve to make changes.”
Another of Borthwick’s defining decisions was going to be who he handed the fly-half shirt to and Marcus Smith, as expected, will start there against Ireland ahead of Fin Smith, who may provide impact from the bench.
Twelve months ago it was the Harlequins fly-half who kicked a drop goal with the final play of the game to secure a memorable win over Ireland and deny them successive Grand Slams.
Lawrence Dallaglio was a leading light in England’s only World Cup triumph Marcus Smith kicked the winning drop goal when England beat Ireland last year Smith has regularly excelled in a Harlequins side that play a free-flowing style, but hasn’t always replicated that with England, but Dallaglio is confident he can do so if the forwards provide him with the platform.
He said: “You don’t get as much quick ball as you do at club level. Test rugby isn’t the same as club rugby. The last time England beat Ireland Smith hit the winning drop goal didn’t he.
“The England forward pack produced one of their best performances, probably the pinnacle of Borthwick’s coaching career. If the England pack are as ferocious in the breakdown as they were that day then you’ll see a lot more of Marcus Smith playing well.”
Lawrence Dallaglio is a host on the brand-new podcast, Stick to Rugby brought to you by Defender, which can be watched via The Overlap Rugby YouTube channel.