The Steve Borthwick verdict on Maro Itoje's Lions captaincy bid

England boss Steve Borthwick has given his verdict on Maro Itoje’s bid to captain the British and Irish Lions on their tour to Australia. Borthwick’s side rounded off their latest Guinness Six Nations campaign with a record away hammering of Wales, scoring 10 tries to win 68-14 in Cardiff.

Victory left the English finishing with a four-wins-from-five campaign for the first time since they last lifted the Six Nations title in 2020. They did so with Itoje as their new skipper after Borthwick tasked him at the start of 2025 with taking over the captaincy from Jamie George.

While England were beaten in the opening round by Ireland, they went on to enjoy success against France, Scotland, Italy and Wales and Borthwick had no hesitation on Saturday night outlining his full confidence in lock Itoje captaining the Lions if chosen by Andy Farrell ahead of Ireland’s Caelan Doris.

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“Maro has been absolutely outstanding,” said Borthwick at Principality Stadium. “He leads by example every day and he has stepped up his game. That is an important thing to note. He has improved in many areas this campaign.

“That really does set an example and he is an experienced player at Test and Lions level. I have full confidence in Maro’s ability to lead the Lions should Andy ask him.”

Player Carries

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Ben Earl

14

2

Blair Murray

11

3

Ben Thomas

11

England had 11 players – the largest representation of the four nations – chosen in the Lions squad originally named in 2021 by Warren Gatland to tour South Africa.

Borthwick is now expecting the English to feature heavily again in a Lions squad on the back of a Six Nations effort that left them in first place before France kicked off in their tournament-ending, Saturday night fixture with Scotland.

England ultimately finished second, as the French delivered a 35-16 win in Paris to clinch their first title since 2022.

“The next thing for these players is hopefully lots of them will get picked for the Lions,” said Borthwick. “The players have created some good headaches for Andy, the kind of headaches as a coach you want to have. Lots of players putting their hand up and showing a case they should be on that plane for the Lions.

“We as a coaching team talked about part of our role, it was Kevin Sinfield who proposed it. He said part of our role is to get as many of these players on that plane as possible. Our job is to help them do that, so hopefully there will be a lot of England players heading down under in a couple of months on that Lions plane.

“Hopefully there will be lots of players from this squad going on the Lions which will be brilliant for them. It’s just such a phenomenal experience, the Lions tour is a brilliant experience to have and I am sure if they do go they will come back better England players for having that experience.”

Two early tries had England 14-0 up against Wales after just 10 minutes and a further three-try blitz sent them in at the break 33-7 ahead. Five more tries followed in the second half, including two for the debut-making Henry Pollock, to see records in the fixture tumble.

“We spoke about this [Cardiff] being a special place to come and play and we then spoke about how we wanted to approach the game. I wanted the players to play big, to play fast, aggressive with ball and that is exactly what they did which shows a sign of this young team that just embraces challenges and is growing and developing fast.

“The team has been progressing for a period of time now. If you look through you can see the growth in the team and whilst for a period getting the actual wins we were just falling a little short, the team has stuck to the process.

“The team has taken enjoyment in the process of getting better. I know I enjoy the process of getting better. I am really pleased for the players – and the supporters today, who were phenomenal – seeing the fruits of their labour on the pitch.”