Jamie George has called on England to end their Six Nations hoodoo by delivering a statement victory when Steve Borthwick’s men kickstart their new era against Italy.
George will captain his country for the first time in Rome with Borthwick set to unleash five debutants in England’s biggest Six Nations overhaul for 12 years. The new captain is determined to harness the connection with supporters – some of whom booed his predecessor Owen Farrell during the World Cup – and wants “people to love coming to watch England play”.
England have developed a habit of beginning the Six Nations championship poorly, however, and have lost their last four matches on the opening weekend since their last victory in 2019 against Ireland.
“We want to make a statement, we also want to make it very clear what this England team’s about going forward,” said George. “And we want to give the England fans plenty to shout about. I want that connection with the fans, I want people to love coming to watch England play, for plenty of reasons, the result being one, how we play the game being another, the amount of fight and character that we show, the amount of pride and passion that we play with.
“We want to entertain people, of course we do, but we want to do it in the right way, we want to do it in the England way. You can lose sight of the impact you can have on so many people, putting smiles on people’s faces. We want people to enjoy travelling over, we want to put a product on the field that people are proud of and ultimately the enjoyment factor of following England rugby. Whether that is people travelling or people turning on the TV at home, we want people to be very proud of what the England rugby team put out on the field.”
George wins his 86th cap at the Stadio Olimpico and will captain England – who are set to unleash debutants Ethan Roots and Fraser Dingwall from the start as well as Fin Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso from the bench – for the first time.
“I’ve tried not to think about it too much,” George added. “It’s going to be quite an emotional day. I’m quite an emotional person anyway. I’ve got some family flying over – and some family who aren’t able to fly. To be able to put a smile on the faces of my family back home is going to mean a lot. I’ve got a cousin flying over from Bermuda who’s mad for it. It sounds like a bit of a lads’ trip with my old man really.
“It’s going to be good. The obvious statement is that it’s going to be a dream come true. I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for moments like that. As ever, I just want to be in the moment as much as I can and soak it all up.”
Meanwhile, Italy have suffered a blow on the eve of the match after the wing Ange Capuozzo was ruled out because of sickness. Capuozzo, the Azzurri’s most dangerous broken field runner, has a stomach bug and has withdrawn from the starting XV.
