5 Players Who Could Captain England In The June Internationals
Stephen Lewis
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New leader.
Northampton Saints yesterday broke the news that club and England skipper Dylan Hartley will miss the remainder of the season as he continues to overcome the concussion sustained in England’s match against Ireland in the final round of the Six Nations.
Of course, this means that England will be searching for a new captain ahead of the looming tour to South Africa, against a Springboks side now led by Rassie Erasmus. Whilst obviously a blow for Eddie Jones’ side, this could be a perfect opportunity to develop more leadership in the side, a trait that England desperately needed during their underwhelming Six Nations performance (in case you hadn’t heard, they finished fifth).
With this in mind, we have decided to name five players that could captain England in the upcoming Internationals.
Owen Farrell
The obvious choice for many, the Saracens playmaker has become arguably England’s key player under Jones, as well as one of the best fly-halves in World Rugby. The 26-year-old will be one of England’s most capped backs on the forthcoming tour despite his relative young age, and has had captained England before, albeit in their 2018 defeat to France. He may not have bundles of experience as either club or national captain, but he is without a doubt a leader both on and off the field. Expect him to be the bookie’s favourite to replace Hartley as captain, and rightfully so.
Joe Launchbury
The Wasps lock has been an ever-present in the England Squad since his first appearance in 2012, and was arguably one of England’s better players throughout their disappointing Six Nations campaign. This is all the more impressive when you consider the competition he has in the second-row. His work-rate is unquestionable, and you can often see him at the top of the tackle count after a match. Having been Wasps’ captain for the past two years, it would not come as much of a surprise to many England fans should he lead the side out against the Springboks.
George Ford
Having had a turbulent few seasons under Bath, Ford has started to re-discover the form that made him England’s go-to fly half for the majority of 2015, and Eddie Jones’ preferred option since the Australian took over. On his day, Ford is dazzling to watch, with his creativity repeatedly unlocking defences and also pinning teams back with his out-of-hand kicking. He is clearly held in high regard by Jones, having co-captained England against the Barbarians in 2017. However, Ford plays best when the forwards are able to give him quick ball to work with and can sometimes struggle when put under pressure. Whilst it would not be a massive shock to hand the Leicester man the armband, allowing Ford to play without the captaincy could bring out the best in him.
Chris Robshaw
Whilst a very unlikely call, it is not out of the question to see Chris Robshaw captain England once again. Jones has reserved praise time and time again for the 31-year-old, who has shone at England since making the move to blindside flanker. His road to redemption has been covered so many times, and many people had written him off after THAT World Cup tournament. The biggest factor counting against Robshaw is the other options Jones possesses in the back row: Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Don Armand, Sam Simmons, James Haskell, and Brad Shields (as well as Robshaw) are all vying for those flanker positions come June 9th, and it remains to be seen if the Harlequins stalwart can win that number six jersey.
Maro Itoje
Ok, this almost certainly won’t happen, but we can dream, can’t we? At the age of 23, Itoje has done it all already: A Grand Slam, a Premiership crown (twice), European glory (twice), a Test Win against the All Blacks as a British and Irish Lion… the list goes on. A firm fan favourite with England and Saracens, Itoje was England’s U20’s captain when he led them to the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship. Having said all this, it is entirely possible that Itoje may not even be included in the squad: The gruelling Lions series has taken its toll on a number of players, and Itoje looked to be one of those during the Six Nations, appearing to look burned out. Jones may decide to give Itoje the summer off, but there is no doubt that Itoje will one become captain of England.
Jones obviously has options at his disposal, and it will certainly be interesting to see who does lead England during their South Africa tour. Of course, Eddie could just troll us all and pick Mike Brown as captain. Now that, we would LOVE to see.
