George has all the right traits to set England on a new path

JAMIE GEORGE has been nourished on a rugby diet rich in every different type of captaincy ingredient.

- Nick Purewal

The new England skipper remains hungry to learn, with a mental appetite that has fed his flourishing career.

George can take his pick when it comes to captaincy role models, even without looking beyond the end of his Saracens nose.

His England head coach, Steve Borthwick, was his first Saracens captain. The rugged lock helped George get to grips with skippering the club's A team, with the young front-rower hardly out of his teens at the time.

It was a captaincy crossover that left a lasting impression on Borthwick. The regard with which he held the youngster at the start of his career has translated into making the 33-year-old his new skipper for the Six Nations.

Owen Farrell is the most obvious and recent captaincy touchstone for 85-cap George. And yet, perhaps the most instructive role model on George's England leadership comes in the unlikely form of ex-Ireland captain Rory Best. George struck up a firm friendship with Best on the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2017, and the two have stayed in touch.

Where Saracens boss Mark McCall and club-mate Farrell were his first two ports of call on being named England skipper, George said Best might just end up being the third.