LONG READ Can Jamie George maintain sky-high standards until his last dance at the Rugby World Cup?

The England captaincy is a great honour bestowed on the chosen few but it can also shine an unwelcome spotlight. Jamie George, in his stand-in capacity, had to front up in the immediate aftermath of England’s heavy defeat to South Africa and spout the default platitudes.

‘Game of fine margins. Take our learnings. Be better for the experience’ – George knew the drill.

The scrutiny though, intense as it always is on a beaten England, wasn’t just collective. For George, it was personal too.

Sometimes moments from games stick in the memory and the missed tackle on Ox Nche in the early Springbok onslaught had an uncomfortable permanence.

It was a gainline stop which tops the list of essentials when playing against the World Champions and for the captain – with back-up from Ollie Chessum – to miss it was awkward.

It reminded some keen students of the game, in November 2024, at the Allianz Stadium, when a snorting Damien de Allende, bust the tackle of Henry Slade and Ben Earl, leading to a try from Kurt-Lee Arendse. The memory was so painful that Earl admitted he had had lost sleep over it, but both have remained in the England set-up.

Granted, Nche is a powerful man. South Africa were on full shock and awe setting but you could not help but wonder whether George would have fallen off it ten years ago.

George will turn 36 in October. He is on the final stretch of a decorated career. When the Saracen announced his plans to retire at the end of 2027 he did so with the aim of finishing at a fourth Rugby World Cup.

All things being equal that may see him pass Ben Youngs to become England’s most capped men’s player but nothing is a given. It is a valid question to ask whether he, and many legends in other competing nations, can make it that far.

In his 56 minutes on the field at Ellis Park, the official stats had him down as touching the ball five times and making two metres as a ball carrier. In defence he missed four of his 15 attempted tackles.

If the lineout arm is still as reliable as ever, those are not the numbers of old.

Watching the game back, it was not as if he was miles off the pace. He did his fair share of ruck clearance work and the penalty he gave away was with the best of intentions as he stretched for the line not knowing Jack van Poortvliet’s touch on the ball had put him in an offside position.

But if England have much to prove in their remaining Nations Championship matches this month so too does George.

It is not over-dramatising matters to think that he, as much as anyone, will be playing for his Test future over the next fortnight.

In reinstalling him as temporary captain in Maro Itoje’s absence, England head coach Steve Borthwick showed that he views George as an important asset, still.

With 15 months to go until the World Cup, the England coach – in and amongst dealing with the current nosedive in results – has to be narrowing down his thinking as to who will make the plane to Australia.

His 110 caps equate to a lot of experience and knowhow. He is a fantastic person to have around any squad, an environment improver and energy giver. He is also a great ambassador for English rugby, articulate, warm and approachable.

But Borthwick must also realise though that above and beyond all that he has to be worth his place in the team. Players, however decorated and well-regarded, need to keep on proving themselves and that applies to George, at his stage of his career, as much as anyone.

With 15 months to go until the World Cup, the England coach – in and amongst dealing with the current nosedive in results – has to be narrowing down his thinking as to who will make the plane to Australia.

If there is cutting to be done on age grounds, the end of this Nations Championship is a logical time to do it.

Borthwick would jettison George reluctantly – he has been part of the England furniture for more than a decade and adds a lot to the environment with his soft skills – but there is no room for sentiment.

Is he still England’s best option at hooker? More to the point will he still be so at Australia 2027.

The competition for George’s hooker spot has been inconsistent of late. Luke Cowan-Dickie, picked ahead of George as a Test Lion in South Africa and included at his expense initially in Australia last summer until he was incapacitated, has been held back by injury.

Theo Dan, the other hooker in England’s Nations Championship squad, has rarely been trusted as a starter. There are alternative options though emerging in the Prem.

Jamie Blamire, last capped by England three years ago, has enjoyed an excellent season at Leicester and was Dan’s back-up in the non-Test game against a France XV in Vannes which preceded the Nations Championship. The former Newcastle hooker has his admirers.

Age is, in one sense, only a number. George’s old Saracens teammate Schalk Brits played in the 2019 World Cup at the age of 38. So did Simon Shaw for England at the 2011 tournament.

Elsewhere Curtis Langdon has impressed at champions Northampton when fit and the explosive 20-year-old, Kepu Tuipulotu, has come on at Bath.

If the competitive fires still burn as brightly – and he insists they do – the last thing George would want is to leave the door open to any of his rivals with an insipid summer.

It has, frankly, not started well. Age is, in one sense, only a number. George’s old Saracens teammate Schalk Brits played in the 2019 World Cup at the age of 38. So did Simon Shaw for England at the 2011 tournament.

It is entirely possible that George sails on to the send-off he has scripted.

Yet the bigger picture issue of England’s downturn – five successive Test defeats heading into this weekend’s game against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and the Argentina match which follows – means the waters are choppier now.

The momentum of 12 months ago has been placed into sharp reverse. Suddenly, they are a side looking desperately for a win of any description.

The Fiji Test is firmly in must-win territory for England. George has felt the pressure and dealt with it in his own unflappable way before many times.

He will lead like a leader but England need him to play like one too. His many fans will scroll back to moments like the storming carry off the left wing into the guts of the All Blacks defence which led to Manu Tuilagi’s try in the World Cup semi-final.

It is maybe asking too much in his mid-30s for him to reprise that but whether it is as a starter or a finisher against the Fijians, George needs to show Borthwick he still has it at this level.

There are decisions to be made over the next fortnight with the World Cup in mind and England’s captain will hope he’s not on the wrong side of them.