In an interview with Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, Jamie George has labelled his time as England captain as one of the \u201cgreatest privileges\u201d of his life.<\/p>\n
Appearing on the\u00a0For The Love Of Rugby\u00a0podcast, George told the panel: \u201cI absolutely loved being able to do it, and do it my way and throw everything of myself into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maro Itoje replaced George as the key man ahead of the 2025 Six Nations, but the Saracens hooker bears no bad blood towards his long-time teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m there to support Maro in every way that I possibly can,\u201d he explained. \u201cMine and Maro\u2019s relationship is unbelievable. I\u2019ve known for a long time now, and he\u2019s the right person for us going forward, 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n
An England super support system<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not easy to step down from a place of power to then support the man who\u2019s taken your place, but George had no problem backing up his friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, okay, how can I support him? What are my strengths? What are Maro\u2019s strengths? Where can I fill a gap? What needs doing tactically?<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge Ford, and I, and Fin Smith<\/a>, now especially, try and take a lot of the tactical stuff away from Maro, because he\u2019s got so much other stuff going on.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re in behind the scenes, going to Lee Blackett, going to Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth], going to Byron McGuigan, \u2018Right, what do you need? What are you seeing? How do you think about this? Have we thought about that? Can we put this in place? Can we put that in place?\u2019<\/p>\n During his career, the 35-year-old has enjoyed playing with some of the greatest minds in the game, and very few come more diligent than Sale Sharks\u2019 George Ford<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorge Ford is unbelievable at what he does. The way that he prepares a team, whether he plays or not, is like nothing I\u2019ve ever seen before. So, me and him have got an unbelievable relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think a lot about the game, and then we all almost try and get the nitty gritty done, present it to Maro, and we as a three will then present it to the coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n Itoje has come a long way from his early days in the England<\/a> squad. Now captain of the squad, captain of Saracens, and captain of the 2025 British and Irish Lions \u2013 it\u2019s been quite the journey.<\/p>\n \u201cMaro is unbelievable at delegating and giving people time,\u201d George expressed, praising his leadership style. \u201c\u2018This is your responsibility, that\u2019s yours\u2019, and we\u2019ve worked that out quite nicely now.\u201d<\/p>\n PREM Rugby Team of the Week: \u2018Big mister\u2019 Benhard Janse van Rensburg \u2018proves his point\u2019 as \u2018force of nature\u2019 Test star shines<\/a><\/p>\n Mark McCall \u2013 \u201cThe best club coach ever\u201d<\/p>\n