"Maro's a World Class player" – 5 Talking Points from Steve Borthwick's England squad announcement as new captain named for 2025 Six Nations

Yesterday at 08:21 AM

England head coach Steve Borthwick named his 36-man squad for the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations this morning, with the headline of Maro Itoje being selected as to captain the side. Jamie George has been removed from his post at the helm, yet does retain a leadership role as a vice-captain, alongside Bristol Bears prop Ellis Genge.

Borthwick spoke to the reporting media today at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, after unavailing his side that will band together for the coming months. England are set to jet out to Girona, Spain later this month, and will be joined by Borthwick and Itoje after their media duties at the 2025 Six Nations launch event in Rome, Italy. The England head coach expressed the reasoning behind his decisions to appoint a new captain, and previewed his side’s opening round battle with Ireland in today’s press conference.

Here are the five biggest talking points, from Steve Borthwick’s England squad announcement for the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations.

1. “World Class” Maro Itoje named as England captain for 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations

The biggest news to come out of HQ this morning, sees England embark on a new era under the leadership of Maro Itoje. The lock becomes the fifth man to captain England with Borthwick as head coach, following on from Owen Farrell, Courtney Lawes, Ellis Genge and his predecessor Jamie George.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I think when you’re making a decision like that, there’s always a number of factors to consider. Where the team’s at in the game and what you feel the team needs in this next spell. We’re blessed to have a lot of good leaders within this squad, so I feel really privileged to have the opportunity to appoint Maro as captain.

“Maro’s a world-class player who has the respect of everybody. Jamie’s done a great job of captaining this side the last 12 months. With Ellis Genge as well, that leadership group that we have, with other players as well, the likes of Ben Earl, we have a great group of leaders within the squad.”

2. “Jamie’s disappointed” – Borthwick reveals conversation to relieve Jamie George of captaincy

There is no denying how passionate former England skipper Jamie George was for the role. Borthwick revealed how the Saracens hooker was gutted to lose the armband, with an element of the decision being how Itoje is a player who more often than not will stay on the pitch for the full 80 minutes. Question marks were raised regarding George’s captaincy throughout 2024, as in typical front row fashion, he would depart the pitch mid-way through the second half.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “Jamie’s disappointed, as anybody would be. He’s a very proud Englishman and he’s led the team over the last 12 months with a great deal of pride. So there’s disappointment. One of Jamie’s great strengths as a leader, as a person, as a player, is that he’s always put the team first. Having spoken to him, that’s what his intent is.”

“It’s one of the factors, definitely. If you ask any coach, the preference would always be to have the captain on for 80 minutes. That’s not always possible and there are plenty of exceptions to that case. But I generally think that would generally be most coaches’ preferences.”

3. Tailoring how England play – Borthwick set to unleash ‘pace and athleticism’ in attacking line

An element of Borthwick’s England squad that has defined his era as head coach, has been the high octane attacking line of fast and evasive backs. Borthwick has called up the uncapped Harlequins duo of Cadan Murley and Oscar Beard to reinforce the options, with Bristol flyer Gabriel Ibitoye completing his injury rehab with the squad. Borthwick is excited for another high-flying campaign with the England team.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “Well, I think as you look at the squad we’ve got, you see a team that has pace, (and) athleticism. Each team in World Rugby has got different make-ups, you look at this team I think now, over this last 12 months, it has developed.

“Players have got pace and athleticism now, I think that’s got to be tailored to the way England play, I think you’ve seen that over the last 12 months, you see the amount of ball movement has increased. I think the point of difference going forward for this team is going to be the way they tackle the ball in hand.

“We’ve got a whole lot of talent, that back-line that’s started to come together over the last year has got the potential to be very, very good, and I think that’s where the direction of our game will be.”

4. “Real excitement to get going” – England are eyeing up back to back Six Nations wins over Ireland

Borthwick expressed how the England players are chomping at the bit to get going, with their first match of the 2025 Six Nations kicking off on Saturday 1st February. After a pre-tournament tune-up in Catalonia, the England squad head over to Dublin for an opening round battle with back-to-back Six Nations winners Ireland. England triumphed in dramatic fashion in this fixture last year, thanks to Marcus Smith’s match-winning drop goal.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “Absolutely (ready to go), and the Six Nations is a wonderful tournament isn’t it. The rivals that you have, the standard of the competition, you look at the start of the first game, I sense when I’m talking to players, we had players together last week for a day, I sense a real excitement to get going.

“Now, we know that will be a great challenge for us, but I know when we come into camp next week, and we’re going to fly to Girona next Tuesday, and get started training on Wednesday, the players will jump right into it.”

5. “Cohesion factor” – Borthwick impressed by Ireland’s strengths ahead of Six Nations opener in Dublin

England are set for arguably their toughest Test of the Six Nations first up, as they take on Ireland in the Aviva Stadium. On par perhaps with a fired up French side, Ireland and Les Bleus are leading the pack as the bookies’ favourites to win the title come the end of March. Borthwick has been impressed by the cohesion of the Irish side, who will be without their regular head coach Andy Farrell for the Six Nations.

STEVE BORTHWICK: “I think over the last number of years, the one before that, you’ve seen a team that has grown together, the players have played a lot of games together, have a consistent manner in how they play. You see that cohesion factor, we can all see that, and that’s the way Irish would be structured, clearly really well coached, really well organised and full of very good players.”

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