‘He is a brilliant voice’ – Steve Borthwick reveals why he has handed captaincy back to Jamie George and why Owen Farrell will not be touring with England
‘He is a brilliant voice’ – Steve Borthwick reveals why he has handed captaincy back to Jamie George and why Owen Farrell will not be touring with England
Steve Borthwick has revealed why took the decision to give back the England captaincy to Jamie George – and why he has no plans to recall Owen Farrell for the summer tour.
Five months have passed since Red Rose boss Borthwick removed the captaincy from George and handed it to Maro Itoje – a period in which Itoje steered England to runners-up spot in the Six Nations and was rewarded with the British and Irish Lions armband.
Itoje’s unavailability means a new skipper is required for England’s non-cap game against France at Twickenham on Saturday. And Borthwick has had no hesitation in turning back the clock.
Jamie George to lead from the front
The 101-cap Saracens hooker will co-captain the side with George Ford and Borthwick says the decision was a no-brainer.
“Jamie is a brilliant voice, from a tactical point of view, he’s really clear,” said Borthwick. “He has a fantastic feel for people and has a brilliant manner with people, as does George.
“Both are phenomenal players and brilliant, experienced leaders, both at club and international level. Whether they’ve been captain or vice-captain or not, they are leaders and they are role models for the rest of the players.
“And because the two of them have played so many games together and have known each other so well for a long period of time, they understand each other and work off each other.
“I’ve talked to him a number of times about building the togetherness of the England team, the ability to understand each other. To have two leaders epitomising it is really very valuable for us.”
George was originally handed the England captaincy when Farrell stood down from international duty after the 2023 World Cup prior to quitting the Premiership for Racing 92 in the French Top 14.
The return of Owen Farrell
Farrell returned to Saracens just this week and immediately confirmed that he had not retired from international rugby, opening the door to possible involvement on England’s upcoming tour to Argentina and the United States.
But after announcing his line-up to face France that includes uncapped trio Joe Carpenter, Seb Atkinson and Guy Pepper, Borthwick confirmed Farrell is not in his thoughts at this time.
“Owen’s been very clear, he’s happy to be home,” said Borthwick. “He hasn’t made any discussion around his future other than he’s just looking forward to getting his family settled back in Hertfordshire.
“My focus is on these guys here. Dealing with the hypotheticals of what might be in the future is not what I want to talk about here. We’ve got a squad of players I’m enjoying working with, and they deserve all my attention.
“The [tour] squad selection I’ll do on Sunday after the medical report from the game on Saturday. After the Lions have got on a plane and gone to Australia, and then I know what players we have. But that will be from this squad of players here.”
