‘Grand Slam written all over’ England squad despite ‘criminal’ omissions while fans hail ‘man mountain’ captain

Louis Chapman Coombe
Maro Itoje post-match against Australia

Maro Itoje scored a try in the 78th minute against the Wallabies.

Steve Borthwick has named his 36-man squad for the upcoming Six Nations, and fans are once again torn over the selections. 

Here, Planet Rugby will breakdown the good, the bad and the funny when it comes to the reactions on the England Six Nations squad.

The good

The selection of Maro Itoje as captain is the big headline coming out of the squad announcement and this has largely been met with positive reactions from the fans.

Itoje, who has 88 caps for England at the time of writing, has long been heralded as a future Red Rose skipper, and fans are pleased to finally see him being handed the title this Six Nations.

One user on X posted: “Brilliant choice. Man mountain of a man, experienced, a leader of men and has respect from all his players, staff and England supporters. A new chapter for English Rugby, and hopefully a good one.”

Their views were shared largely across the board too, with another user sharing: “English Rugby making serious appointments with new captain Maro Itoje.”

Another added: “Congratulations to Maro Itoje on being named captain. Arguably England’s best player, so pleased for him.”

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Another user said it was “a great move”: “Maro Itoje as captain. Finally. Beyond the fact that he lasts longer than 50 minutes, it’s a huge move for English rugby. This guy has needed to be the face of the game for years. Market him and get the game more exposure. A great move.”

Whilst Itoje was the big talking point, his Saracens teammate Tom Willis was a name a lot of England fans were pleased to see on the teamsheet.

“Glad to finally see Tom Willis get his long overdue England call up,” one X user said.

Another added: ” Tom Willis gets his call!”

Looking at the squad on the whole, prominent English pundit Andy Goode heralded the squad overall, saying it had “Grand Slam written all over it”.

The bad

But, as you would expect following an England squad selection, fans were quick to point out the key omissions.

This time around, the conversations centred on the axing of Ben Spencer – who started England’s opening two November Tests – given his exceptional form for Bath.

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“Great squad but do feel for Ben Spencer feel like he was the best of the three nines we saw in the autumn,” said one X user.

Another added they felt Spencer had become the “scapegoat” after England’s poor autumn: “No Ben Spencer then? Best English scrum half in the league not chosen after being made a scapegoat in the autumn.”

One user simply posted their confusion at his omission: “Why is there no Ben Spencer?”

A big omission from the squad was also in-form Northampton Saints back-rower Henry Pollock.

“NO POLLOCK ????” one user posted.

Another felt it was ‘criminal’ he was overlooked: “Criminal that Pollock isn’t in the squad.”

Another user added: “No Pollock, No Party.”

The funny

Whilst the England squad is a serious matter, there were some funny remarks made on social media.

Cult hero Dan Cole was another player axed from the squad, and his omission led one user to post a picture of him with the caption ‘goodbye my lover’.

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