England have glaring choice for Six Nations captain with Owen Farrell injured

Thousands of Lions fans chant for Maro Itoje

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It is time Maro Itoje took centre stage for England. Not as a player – he can do that with his eyes shut – but as captain. The red line through the name of Owen Farrell for this season’s Six Nations Championship is a setback for England. His influence on the side is so profound as its leader that a void has been left but it is also an opportunity for someone else and that someone should be Itoje.

From his school days at Harrow he has been groomed to step into this role. He led England to the Junior World Cup in 2014 and a year later, at 20, lifted the Anglo-Welsh Cup as Saracens captain.

But Farrell’s presence at his club and, post-Dylan Hartley with England, has kept Itoje amongst the foot soldiers.

There is no Farrell now.

Itoje has matured into a pivotal member of this England squad. He is the rallying point of the England pack and a player opponents fear.

He is in his magnificent prime as an athlete and has the experience of 51 England caps and two Lions tours under his belt.

Off the field he increasingly makes his presence felt. When chaos descended on pre-Six Nations training camp with a fire, a power cut and an evacuation from the England team hotel it was Itoje who pulled the squad together, leading a session on team communication in the convivial surroundings of a Brighton pub.

At 27, logic says this is Itoje’s moment yet there seemingly remains a reluctance in Eddie Jones to go there. 

Jones has always rated Itoje as a player despite the Vauxhall Viva comparisons early on in his Test career but as a leader he has harboured doubts from the start. The FEC (Future England Captain) moniker appeared to rankle. In the book he wrote last year, he dismissed Itoje as too inward-looking for the role.

To commit those thoughts to print with his own pen was a strange piece of man-management and within a matter of months he had U-turned and was saying Itoje might one day captain his country but his actions in the autumn indicated those doubts remain.

When Farrell was first injured in the autumn, Jones turned instead to Courtney Lawes to captain England. With Lawes unavailable for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match with concussion you might have imagined Itoje would be the next cab off the captaincy rank but when the Northampton back row was substituted against South Africa with seven minutes left it was Tom Curry, rather than Itoje, who took over the captaincy. 

It was Curry who was dispatched to the tournament launch as stand-in captain too.

At 23, Curry could well be a future England captain – he has time on his side – but it feels too early for him.

Perhaps Itoje’s profile counts against him. Jones is extremely wary of those – other than himself of course – who court fame and fortune so few England players dare to put their heads above the parapet. Itoje is an exception with his modelling for Ralph Lauren and M and S. Part of the Roc Nation management stable founded by Jay-Z, he is seen and heard promoting everything from African art to the rollout of laptops to disadvantaged children to close the digital divide. 

There has been no indication that having interests outside of rugby has affected his form. Nor should they make him any less suitable as captaincy material. If he holds a wider world view than most sportsmen that should be no barrier to promotion.

With no Farrell, England need a figurehead who can inspire after their desperate fifth-place finish in the championship last season.

“A leader is a dealer in hope,” Napoleon once noted.

Itoje’s elevation would bring exactly that and let the rest know England mean business in the Six Nations again.

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