Jamie George reveals proudest day of his life was also saddest

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The Saracens hooker received a call from Steve Borthwick last year, offering him the chance to captain England. Just hours later, his mother, Jane, told him she had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

George, 33, was so shaken by the news that he considered turning down the captaincy. But his mum, a devoted rugby fan, insisted he had to take it.

“I found out about her cancer diagnosis on the same day I found out I was going to be England captain, so that was a pretty mixed day,” George said. “It puts a lot of things in perspective.”

“When I told my mum and dad about me being captain and that I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing given the circumstances, my mum was distraught. She said, ‘You can’t not take this because of me.’”

Jane passed away just six weeks later, with George by her side.

“She loved this team, loved watching me play, and never missed a game,” he continued. “Until the start of this tournament, when she got ill, she watched every game.”

“The text I got from her before my first game as captain is something I will treasure forever. She said it was the proudest day of her life. Given what she was going through, to still be able to put a smile on her face was huge.”

Tragically, she never got to see her son lead out England. “She was too ill,” George said.

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