England no longer announce their new captains with a grand theatrical flourish. Back in 1996 Bath’s Phil de Glanville had to lie down in the back of the taxi taking him to Twickenham so no one could identify the skipper poised to replace Will Carling before he was unveiled dramatically from behind a large curtain like a nervous contestant in Stars in Their Eyes.
Fast forward to 2025 and Maro Itoje, the 136th man chosen to lead his country, was not even present for his inauguration. People like to talk about spreading the rugby gospel and here was another example of how not to do it. A good news story (if not for poor old Jamie George) and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Itoje to strike a smiling pose for the snappers and propel English rugby back on to the front pages? Nah, we’ll just stick out a bog-standard press release.
