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George's 'mentor' Brits gives his take on the new England captain
By Josh Raisey
Before there was Jamie George at Saracens, there was Schalk Brits. Much in the same way the new England captain had to bide his time behind former England captain Dylan Hartley on the Test stage, so too did he have to deputise for the former South Africa hooker.
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The 33-year-old’s patience paid off though, as he went on to claim the No2 jersey in both white and black and is set to captain England this Guinness Six Nations, taking over from his Saracens teammate Owen Farrell.
After years of playing alongside George at Saracens and seeing him develop from an academy player to a British and Irish Lion, few players will know him better than Brits.
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As a guest of RugbyPass TV’s Boks Office recently, the 2019 World Cup winner, jokingly described as George’s mentor, gave his thoughts on the new captain.
“I think Jamie is the best man for the job,” he told Hanyani Shimange and Jean de Villiers.
“His EQ, his emotional intelligence, how he runs, how he plays, he’s one of the players who, if fit, would play every weekend and most of the minutes as well. From that perspective, I think he’s an excellent choice to be captain.
“I think he’s learned a lot under Owen, he’s got a great relationship with Steve [Borthwick], and I think he’s going to do wonders for England. And he can manage the refs extremely well.”
Brits was just as effusive in his praise for George’s off-field demeanour as he is for his on-field presence.
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“He’s amazing [off the field], world class,” he added.
George’s former England and Saracens teammate Brad Barritt was also a guest on the show, and joined Brits in praising George’s off-field personality.
“Especially at this starting point of the Six Nations, a refreshed England, a lot of new players, I think he’s someone who has great relationships with young, old, experienced and inexperienced and he resonates across a broad sector of personality types,” the former centre said.
“I think he’s going to be an amazing captain. He’s served his apprenticeship under Owen for a long period of time. People always try and compare people- the reality with captaincy is there’s no right or wrong. A certain person has a style and can be successful and Jamie has a very different style which can also be successful.”
Brits and Barritt were also pressed to divulge some information about the new England captain that he would not want the public to know. Neither revealed too much, but Barritt did add: “Jamie is a very well-rounded person. Diligent, he works hard, but equally so, he knows how to enjoy himself.
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“Maybe the one he won’t be happy with is there are a few pictures of him without a shirt back in the early days”
