Grieving Maro Itoje backed to give England a lift from the bench against Wales

Steve Borthwick believes the Twickenham crowd will roar a grieving Maro Itoje onto the pitch against Wales after the England head coach named his captain on the bench following the death of the lock’s mother.

Itoje will appear as a replacement in the Six Nations for the first time since making his debut in 2016, bringing to an end a run of 30 successive starts in the tournament. Jamie George will take over the on-field captaincy in his place with Northampton’s Alex Coles coming into the second row. As Telegraph Sport revealed, Borthwick has gone for an all Northampton centre pairing of Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman while wing Henry Arundell makes his first England Test since the 2023 World Cup.

Itoje missed the start of England’s training camp in Girona after flying back from Nigeria to attend the funeral of his mother, Florence, which Borthwick says necessitated starting the 31-year-old on the bench for only the fourth time in his Test career.

“Maro and his family have been dealing with an incredible loss, the sad loss of his mum,” Borthwick said. “We all feel for him in that regard, he travelled to Nigeria and back and has had a big load from a travel perspective. So I’ve made the decision that he’s going to be on the bench this week.

“I’m sure he’s going to have an incredible impact off the bench and I’m sure that the crowd at Allianz Stadium will give him the roar he deserves when he comes to the touchline ready to come on the pitch and show just how much they care about him and his family. I always talk over with Maro and it is very clear why we have gone the way we have gone. I am sure he is going to have a great impact off the bench.”

Itoje told The Sunday Times that the recent period has been “challenging on both the professional and personal front. It’s just the paradox of life.” The death of Itoje’s mother comes almost two years after George’s own mother, Jane, passed away during the 2024 Six Nations. Yet Borthwick has been encouraged by the manner in which the squad have rallied around their leader.

“I think there is a connection and tightness around this squad that I have not seen in very many England squads and certainly was not apparent in the England squads that I was part of in the later years of my playing career,” Borthwick said. “I think the players are working very hard to connect and understand each other and look after each other. Everybody in the group always has something going on in their personal life and I think the players are very supportive of each other. You never want people to go through these situations and you want to offer as much support as you possibly can. That’s what the players and the whole management team do for one and other, which I am really proud of them, for the way they go about that.”

Borthwick emphasised the importance of cohesion in a number of his selections, especially for the opening match of the campaign. Hence retaining the back-row combination of Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl, who started England’s three biggest matches of the autumn, as well as the half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and George Ford and the Northampton centre combination.

Yet Borthwick was forced into changes in the back three where Tom Roebuck was deemed not ready having not played since the autumn internationals as he recovers from a toe injury. In comes Arundell, who is hitting form again for Bath after a patchy couple of years in France. Always a threat with his speed, Borthwick believes he is now a far more rounded player than when he scored five tries against Chile in the World Cup.