Itoje is the best man to captain England

MARO Itoje should be England’s next captain following Owen Farrell’s decision to make himself unavailable for the 2024 Six Nations. Since 2016, Itoje has been the outstanding player in England, in terms of consistent excellence, and is virtually the only Red Rose forward who has been regularly in World XV contention.

It has not been plain sailing all the way, because the Saracens lock suffered a rare dip in form in the year leading into the 2023 World Cup, and this gave rise to speculation that he had contracted an illness – although no details were made public. Even so, when Itoje has been below par he has still operated at a higher standard than most Premiership players, and his solid contribution to Saracens winning their sixth English league title last season proved the point.

Despite being part of England’s Six Nations and World Cup warm-up slumps, Itoje rediscovered his mojo during the tournament, and helped the team to eventually make the most of being in the weaker side of the draw.

Itoje played a significant part in giving South Africa a nasty jolt in the semi-finals, including eclipsing his old adversary, Eben Etzebeth, to the extent that the Springbok bruiser was benched just after half-time.

The good news is that Itoje’s revival has continued strongly since his return to Premiership action. There is also no question that his track record as a Test Lion in 2017 and 2021 – as well as his credentials as a Junior World Cup-winning England U20 captain in 2014 – puts him on a higher captaincy trajectory than rivals like George Ford, Ellis Genge, and Jamie George.