Six Nations 2025: Danny Care on 'surprise' Steve Borthwick decision ahead of tournament – 'The lads were pretty shocked'
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Updated 31/01/2025 at 10:25 GMT
In an exclusive TNT Sports interview, former England international Danny Care gave his thoughts on Steve Borthwick’s decision to give the captaincy to Maro Itoje ahead of the Six Nations and tipped them as “genuine” title challengers. England haven’t worn the crown since 2020 and face back-to-back defending champions Ireland in Dublin to begin their campaign, before a meeting with France at home.
Borthwick
Image credit: Getty Images
Danny Care has revealed the England squad were "shocked" when Jamie George was stripped of the captaincy ahead of this year’s Six Nations.
George, 34, was given the armband after England’s 2023 World Cup run to third place and was "disappointed" to be replaced by second-rower Maro Itoje.
Steve Borthwick’s side lost seven of their 12 Tests during a difficult 2024, a record that saw them slip to seventh in the world rankings.
Behind Borthwick’s decision was a desire to ensure the starting captain was on the field for the full 80 minutes, with hooker George often absent from the final quarter.
Still, it was a major move by the England head coach, and one that caught many off-guard.
"The captaincy change took me by surprise," Care told TNT Sports. "I'll be honest, it really did.
"I thought Jamie had done an unbelievable job. I know that first-hand from being in there with him, how much the boys loved him, really respected him as a leader, and the stuff he does off the field is incredible in that team.
"Obviously, Steve's decided to go on a different route with Maro. Maro is an unbelievable rugby player that's going to be a 100-capper, going to probably be a 150-capper if he wants.
"He's an unbelievable rugby player, backs it up, delivers game after game.
"For whatever reason Steve has done it for, he obviously thinks it's the best thing for the team. So I think everyone will get behind it.
"As players, you just get on with it. I think a lot of the lads were pretty shocked when it was announced Jamie wasn't going to be it anymore, but they're all fully behind Maro.
"I can't wait to wait to see how Maro and Steve take this team forward."
England face something of a baptism of fire in the 2025 Six Nations. First up, they travel to Dublin to take on the back-to-back defending champions before welcoming France to Allianz Stadium.
Assignments don’t get much tougher than opening your campaign playing the two title favourites, especially on the back of an underwhelming autumn which saw three defeats from four.
The positive signs just about outweighed the negative during the 2024 Six Nations, most notably thanks to a thrilling one-point win at home to Ireland and a tight loss away to France to round out their campaign.
But there is a recurrent theme in their losses.
During their summer tour to New Zealand, England lost both Tests from winning positions by a combined eight points.
That continued into the Autumn Nations Series. From 22-14 up with 20 minutes remaining at home, England shipped 10 unanswered points in another agonising defeat at the hands of the All Blacks.
The visit of Australia the following week was supposed to offer some respite, but the Wallabies scored with the clock in the red to seal a famous 42-37 win.
World champions South Africa piled further misery on England before Borthwick and his charges finished their autumn with a convincing triumph over Japan.
Care, despite England's mixed recent run, is full of belief they can claim a first Six Nations title since 2020.
"Steve Borthwick, in the autumn, I think he questioned the last 20 minutes [when] England weren’t closing out games," the scrum-half added.
"But we put ourselves in positions to win games against the best teams in the world, so I do feel like they'll be focusing a lot on that last 20 minutes, winning games, killing teams off.
"I feel like you learn an awful lot about your losses, even more so than you do your wins sometimes. And hopefully they'll have got them out of the way, and they'll put it right.
"I genuinely think England can realistically challenge for this year's Six Nations. They start with probably the two hardest games of the tournament, going away to Ireland and then home to France.
"If England can win one, or - dream world - two of those games, then watch out."
Mitchell return a big boost for England
England have been hit by injuries to key players in the lead-up to the 2025 tournament. Among them, winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and full-back George Furbank are both likely to miss most, if not all, of the fixtures.
While a blow, it gives others a chance to impress in the back three. Freddie Steward is expected to take the reins at 15, but Care hopes his Harlequins team-mate Cadan Murley will earn a deserved first cap.
Murley, 25, has been in brilliant form for his club this season, beating 33 defenders, making 20 clean breaks, and scoring eight tries in 11 appearances.
Care said: "Cadan Murley is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him since he was… well he's always been taller than me, but since he was a little lad joining Harlequins Academy.
"I know how hard he's worked, he's had some injuries just before big tournaments, so hopefully he gets an opportunity to wear the shirt this year."
Elsewhere, scrum-half Alex Mitchell is expected to be fit in time to start against Ireland, while Care is excited to see what Sale Sharks’ Raffi Quirke can do on the international stage.
"Alex Mitchell being hopefully fit would be great for England," Care said.
"I think they missed him in the autumn, they missed his attacking threat, which creates space for other people out wide.
"And also watch out for Raffi Quirke. If he can stay fit, he's a scrum-half I've been keeping an eye on for a long time.
"He's a gifted player and I like what he can do, so maybe he's got an impact in that tournament as well."
Danny Care’s Six Nations final table prediction
1. France
2. England
3. Ireland
4. Scotland
5. Italy
6. Wales
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