Google Favourites <\/a>for nonstop RUCK content!<\/p>\nEngland stars pile into the comments<\/p>\n
As Itoje soaked up the sunshine, his England team-mates couldn\u2019t resist reminding him what he\u2019s missing.<\/p>\n
Northampton Saints fly-half Fin Smith joked:<\/p>\n
\u201c36 degrees today at training. Glad ur taking it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Itoje replied:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m with you in spirit my guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
England prop Ellis Genge also commented:<\/p>\n
\u201cEnjoying your holiday content mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
To which Itoje responded:<\/p>\n
\u201cLool thanks I\u2019ll keep it coming aha.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light-hearted exchanges quickly caught the attention of fans, who enjoyed seeing the close bond between England\u2019s senior players despite Itoje\u2019s absence from the summer squad.<\/p>\n
POLL: <\/p>\n
Why Itoje isn\u2019t with England<\/p>\n
Although Saracens failed to reach the Premiership play-offs, England\u2019s management opted to give their captain a complete break rather than include him for the inaugural Nations Championship.<\/p>\n
Steve Borthwick has repeatedly stressed the importance of managing Itoje\u2019s workload ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, with England believing a summer off is the best way to ensure one of their most influential players remains fresh for the challenges ahead. Jamie George has taken over the captaincy in Itoje\u2019s absence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, Itoje appears to be making the most of his time away, while his England team-mates continue preparations for clashes with South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.<\/p>\n
Brian Moore picks his England XV \u2013 with Henry Pollock in and 105-cap star out<\/p>\n
Moore believes England are now entering the \u201cfinal runway\u201d before the 2027 Rugby World Cup, warning that Borthwick\u2019s opportunity to experiment is quickly disappearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis time for experimentation is closing, and he must balance taking risks against chasing wins and the confidence that gives a squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back three<\/p>\n
15. George Furbank
14. Tommy Freeman
11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso<\/p>\n
Moore has gone for an exciting and attack-minded back three, favouring George Furbank\u2019s creativity over Freddie Steward\u2019s aerial prowess, while keeping faith with Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to provide England\u2019s cutting edge out wide.<\/p>\n
On Furbank, he wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough Freddie Steward\u2019s solidity under the high ball would be welcome at Ellis Park, Furbank gives more options to unlock the Springboks out wide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeman also keeps his place, although Moore believes England must soon settle on his long-term position.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point Borthwick is going to have to decide whether Freeman\u2019s ability to make good things happen whenever he is on the ball should be limited to the edge or the centre of England\u2019s back line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Moore wants Feyi-Waboso to become one of England\u2019s biggest attacking weapons.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should be encouraged to do more work as \u2018wild-card carrier\u2019 around the fringes of the breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis power and pace can unsettle defenders used to covering less dynamic ball-carriers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centres<\/p>\n
12. Tom Litchfield
13. Max Ojomoh<\/p>\n
England\u2019s midfield remains one of Moore\u2019s biggest concerns. He believes Borthwick must finally settle on a centre partnership, backing Tom Litchfield and Max Ojomoh to be given an extended opportunity after impressive Premiership campaigns.<\/p>\n
Moore wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main one is the continuing merry-go-round that is the England centre partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added:<\/p>\n
\u201cTo\u2026 be only one year out from a World Cup and not have even one nailed-on selection is bewildering.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Ojomoh, he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cHis promise deserves an extended series run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explaining Litchfield\u2019s inclusion, Moore added:<\/p>\n
\u201cLitchfield is coming off the back of an excellent club season; why not give him a run when you have Northampton team-mates Furbank, Freeman and Smith there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Half-backs<\/p>\n
9. Alex Mitchell
10. Fin Smith<\/p>\n
Moore has stuck with Northampton\u2019s half-back pairing, believing continuity is crucial as England build towards the World Cup. He also feels Fin Smith should now be given every opportunity to establish himself as England\u2019s long-term fly-half.<\/p>\n
On Smith, Moore wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless Borthwick intends George Ford to lead England\u2019s backs in Australia, it is preferable for Fin, and Marcus, Smith to get game time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell also gets the nod at scrum-half.<\/p>\n
\u201cMitchell\u2026 has the edge over his clubmate Archie McParland when it comes to international experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore added:<\/p>\n
\u201cBen Spencer\u2019s know-how is probably preferable for this specific fixture as cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England captain Maro Itoje has become the target of some good-natured banter from his international team-mates after sharing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-658233","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\/658233","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=658233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}