{"id":391835,"date":"2026-01-26T20:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/391835\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:11:07","slug":"england-captain-maro-itoje-absent-from-training-camp-to-attend-mothers-funeral-in-nigeria-england-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/391835\/","title":{"rendered":"England captain Maro Itoje absent from training camp to attend mother\u2019s funeral in Nigeria | England rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

England will kick off their Six Nations<\/a> training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother\u2019s funeral. Itoje was absent from the official Six Nations \u00adchampionship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join his squad until Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

With the tournament \u00adcommencing on Thursday week every team is scrambling to be ready, but the \u00adSaracens lock has been given \u00adpermission to miss the start of this week\u2019s \u00adtraining block in Girona. \u201cHe is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him,\u201d said Steve Borthwick, whose side open their campaign at home to Wales on Saturday week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I have talked to him I sense emotionally he has found it very tough, very challenging. I also sense from him that his family all going to Nigeria for the funeral is an important aspect for him. I know he will be looking forward to rejoining us and we look forward to having him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Itoje\u2019s captaincy duties at the launch, held at the top of the Royal Mile beneath Edinburgh Castle, were undertaken by his longtime \u00adteammate Jamie George who, just two years ago, led England at \u00adMurrayfield the week after his own mother died of cancer<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve \u00adspoken a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe parallels are scary, really. It\u2019s \u00adheartbreaking news. I know how much of a difficult time he\u2019s going\u00a0through.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest message to him was to make sure he gives himself enough time to grieve and to process things. He\u2019s had a good opportunity to do that and is only going to come back when he\u2019s fully ready to give everything of himself to the squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in Nigeria at the minute but he\u2019ll be back ready to give all of himself to the team and be \u00adsuccessful to make the rest of his \u00adfamily very proud. We\u2019re all \u00addetermined to do that for him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such situations clearly put minor details like a game of rugby into \u00adperspective, but this year most of teams are encountering varying degrees of untimely disruption. France, for example, have just lost their prop Uini Atonio and flanker Paul Boudehent to injuries, with the Toulouse pair Georges-Henri Colombe and Alexandre Roumat added to the squad as replacements.<\/p>\n

Ireland, who begin their campaign against France, also have worrying front-row problems, particularly at loosehead prop where Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle are injured, prompting a call-up for Connacht\u2019s uncapped 20-year-old Billy Bohan. Further injuries in such a key area would be seriously problematic given the power of the French pack. As the captain, Caelan Doris, drily put it, an opening night in Paris \u201cdefinitely sharpens the mind\u201d.<\/p>\n

Antoine Dupont, similarly, has urged his players \u201cto be ready\u201d for their entrance next Thursday, the fixture having been brought forward to avoid a clash with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n

The Wales captain, Dewi Lake, meanwhile, says his side will be bringing \u201csheer fight and will\u201d against England, despite the \u00aduncertainty about the future shape of the Welsh domestic game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Borthwick, though, is primarily braced for a barrage of high balls, suggesting the hosts are anticipating \u201c50 kicks\u201d from a side hoping to apply aerial pressure and feast off the scraps. Either way, the head coach will not necessarily be reshaping his entire tactical approach to suit the recently released Rugby Football Union strategic plan, which specifically urges the national team not only to be consistent major title winners \u201cbut to do so in a way that inspires future generations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to win every game we go into,\u201d he said. \u201cVery clearly we want to win the World Cup in 2027. I want the players to attack this tournament and come with an attitude to play fast and to play brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

England may split summer tour resources to maximise their prospects of victory in their inaugural Nations Championship games in South Africa and Argentina in July. With Tests in Johannesburg and Santiago del Estero either side of a Test against Fiji scheduled to be staged in the north of England, it is possible several senior players will head straight on to Buenos Aires rather than fly back to the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the considerations I have right now,\u201d said Borthwick. \u201cWe are looking at how we manage that.\u201d An England XV is also due to play a French XV in Vannes on 19 June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-391835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}