{"id":494163,"date":"2026-03-25T08:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/494163\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T08:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:55:09","slug":"borthwick-urged-to-axe-itoje-as-england-captain-as-two-replacements-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/494163\/","title":{"rendered":"Borthwick urged to axe Itoje as England captain as two replacements named"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>England boss\u00a0Steve Borthwick\u00a0is under growing pressure to make a ruthless call \u2013 strip\u00a0Maro Itoje\u00a0of the captaincy after a dismal Six Nations campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Itoje endured a brutally tough tournament \u2013 not just on the pitch, but off it too \u2013 following the heartbreaking loss of his mother. The emotional toll, combined with the weight of leading England through a difficult period, has led to suggestions the pressure may simply have been too much.<\/p>\n<p>\u2b50 Save us to your <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4bziEdo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Favourites <\/a>for nonstop RUCK content!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f Johnson: \u201cNo One Is Untouchable\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Former England World Cup-winning captain\u00a0Martin Johnson\u00a0has delivered a blunt verdict \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t spare anyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one is untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one\u2019s undroppable at that level and that\u2019s the way it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s the best thing any player can do? Captain or no captain, it\u2019s play well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson\u2019s message is clear: status means nothing without performance \u2013 captain or not.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcc9 Itoje Under Fire<\/p>\n<p>Itoje\u2019s form dipped noticeably during the Six Nations, with England lacking dominance and direction in key moments. While he remains one of the squad\u2019s most influential figures, questions are now being asked about whether the dual burden of personal grief and captaincy responsibility has affected his performances.<\/p>\n<p>Some within the game believe removing the captaincy could actually help Itoje rediscover his best form without the added pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc40 Successors Already Emerging<\/p>\n<p>If Borthwick does act, two names are firmly in the frame:<\/p>\n<p>Chessum\u2019s rise has been particularly striking, with his physical presence and consistency standing out in a struggling side.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udea8 Big Call Incoming<\/p>\n<p>Borthwick now faces a defining call: stick with Itoje and back him through a difficult period \u2013 or make a bold change to spark a reset.<\/p>\n<p>Given everything Itoje has been dealing with off the field, this is no longer just a rugby decision \u2013 but the pressure at international level never eases.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\uddf3\ufe0f FAN POLL<\/p>\n<p>EDITORS PICKS:<\/p>\n<p>LIVE TRANSFER BLOG:<\/p>\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n<p>Like Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England boss\u00a0Steve Borthwick\u00a0is under growing pressure to make a ruthless call \u2013 strip\u00a0Maro Itoje\u00a0of the captaincy after a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-494163","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\/494163","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=494163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}