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Itoje weighs into England captaincy debate

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Owen Farrell has been the subject of much debate over his captaincy in the aftermath of the Six Nations.

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England blew a 31-0 lead against Scotland in their final game, with the flyhalf being subbed off in the closing stages for George Ford, with Eddie Jones citing that he’d “lost a bit of his edge”.

After impressive performances against Ireland and France, his level dropped off somewhat, particularly against Wales and Scotland.

Farrell’s record as captain has seen England lose five of the 12 matches, along with the 38-all draw with Scotland.

One man who has been hotly tipped as a future England captain is Maro Itoje. He’s leapt the defence of his international and club teammate.

“I’ve seen him as a captain and when he’s not captain and I think he improves when he has that responsibility,” the 24-year-old told talkSPORT.

“He improves in terms of the way he communicates, the way he plays, the way he carries himself and the way he thinks about the team. Almost all aspects of his game improve.

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“He’s the type of player and the type of person who lives and breathes rugby. So there are not many people, if anyone, who have a better rugby intellect than Owen.”

“I think Owen has done a fantastic job. I’ve been up close and seen it with my own eyes. He commands respect from the whole squad.”

Itoje insists he has no designs on moving into a captaincy role.

“Winning is the most important thing for me, it’s not about egos, it’s about helping my team do what needs to be done in order to win. At the moment, part of that role is supporting the captain.

Continue reading below: Eddie Jones frustrated by England’s mental lapses

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Itoje remains on the sidelines due to injury and misses Saracens’ London Stadium match with Harlequins this weekend, however England trio Jamie George, Billy Vunipola and Ben Spencer do return to the Sarries starting line-up, as does their Welsh Grand Slam winner Liam Williams.

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Phantom 33 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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