England captain Maro Itoje was absent from yesterday’s 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations launch event in Edinburgh, due to the tragic circumstances of his mother passing away. It is reported that Itoje traveled out to Nigeria to be with his family and attend the funeral, with vice-captain Jamie George stepping in for the day of media duties alongside head coach Steve Borthwick.
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The England head coach confirmed this in the Scottish capital, and shared a touching message of support to the 31-year-old. Borthwick revealed that Itoje is expected to join up with the England squad on Wednesday, with the group currently assembled for a pre-Six Nations training camp in Girona, Spain.
“Maro is not here today as he is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him.” Borthwick said. “Clearly it has been a challenging time, he has had incredible support from everybody at Saracens but it has been incredibly challenging for him and his family.
“I sense from him his family all going to Nigeria for the funeral is such an important aspect for him and where the funeral takes place. I know he will looking forward post that to rejoining us and the squad.
“When I have talked to him I sense emotionally he has found it very tough, very challenging. There was a point where he wanted to get back on the field and get back playing and everyone can probably respect that and relate to that.
“Now in Nigeria this week it is an important step for him and everyone close to him. I think he will be really looking forward to being back with the team and focussing on the Test matches to come.”
Since making his senior England debut in the 2016 installment of the tournament, the Saracen has become a true Six Nations stalwart. The lock is a three time winner of the competition, and is out to lead England to their first title since 2020 throughout the coming weeks, with Borthwick’s men tipped amongst the favourites on the back of an 11-match run of winning form.
Borthwick is excited to see his skipper back at the Six Nations helm, as the head coach ran through a plethora of reasons why Itoje is considered amongst the very best players in the world today. Only time will tell if Itoje will usurp Martin Johnson as England’s all-time greatest lock, yet there is no mistaking the impact and influence Itoje has had upon his past decade with the England team.
“The best players evolve in their careers.” Borthwick said. “The nature of it is, as you move through your career you change. If you play a number of games of rugby, there are injuries and aspects of the game change and the best players evolve and you can see Maro has evolved his game over that period of time from where he was then to where he is now.
“He has developed to be a really powerful captain, articulate and calm in the way he is. One of his great strengths as a captain is the way he uses others. The way he understands when to use Jamie George, George Ford, Ellis Genge. He uses those guys very well.
“From where he was at the start of his career to now, he is a superb line-out caller and line-out leader. There was period when it was him and George Kruis for such a long time, with George leading the line-out. Maro has evolved over his career to really own that area and be one of the very best in the world.”
Having long been involved within the England leadership group, it felt like the natural progression for Itoje to take the captains armband from Jamie George in January of last year. This marked the second skippering in a magnificent trifecta of captaincies, as Itoje was previously appointed at the helm of Saracens, before then going on to lead the British & Irish Lions to a 2-1 series tour win over Australia.
Borthwick reflected upon how Itoje has progressed through his on-field mannerisms, as he now injects energy into the side through calm and succinct teamtalks – a far cry from the previous cheers and ‘over celebrations’ that faced a mixed bag of reactions.
“We have certainly got some others [now] who like to do that [over celebrate] as well! I think again it’s part of that evolution, part of being a leader, around what the next action is required for the team. That is part of what you do as a leader within the team.
“There is still plenty of energy, plenty of moments of that. While you see evolution, what you see with him is he is a fierce competitor, physically still he continues to work and develop. I chat to him. He’s got incredible high expectations of himself and he has got some great personal goals that he is going after now. After everything he has already achieved in is career, he also has some incredible personal ambitions to go after.”
Borthwick then gave Itoje his due dillegence for breaking the ice for any fresh faces, that have since ushered in a new era of England players down at their Bagshot-based HQ. With predominent clubs such as Northampton Saints and Saracens contributing strong cohorts of players to the camps, Borthwick expressed how no club-based cliques have formed, with Itoje on hand to gel the newcomers together.
“I would say when I was a player in the England team that was definitely a factor. You would see players sat in their tables. Maro with the senior players has definitely been a big part of understanding that we respect people are loyal to their clubs – they are proud of their clubs, it is one of the great strengths we have in English rugby, the club loyalties. That is a huge strength. And understanding when you come into an England camp the word we talk about is ‘connect’ – how well you connect.
“Maro has been great in that, Jamie [George] is superb in that regard. The development of the social committee that they have as players, to ensure there is plenty of time to connect. And understanding there is a responsibility on everybody to go and connect with others within that squad.”
5 QUICK FACTS: MARO ITOJE
1. Itoje skipped England U18s entirely — Itoje went straight from school rugby into England U20s, an unusually fast-track rise that underlined how highly coaches rated him early.
2. He made his Saracens debut at just 18 in 2013, becoming one of the youngest forwards to play Premiership rugby at the time.
3. Itoje is one of the lightest elite locks at around 115kg, relying far more on speed, leverage and timing than sheer bulk — a big reason for his breakdown dominance.
4. Highly decorated club career — Since debuting for Saracens in 2013, Itoje has won five Premiership titles, three European Champions Cups and an Anglo Welsh Cup
5. He holds a degree from SOAS, University of London, studying politics — rare among current international players still active at the top level.
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