Borthwick: Itoje has the credentials to lead Lions

Steve Borthwick is backing England captain Maro Itoje to lead the Lions in Australia this summer following his side's demolition of Wales.

Having already toured twice, Itoje continues to be a standout performer for club and country since taking over the captaincy of both the Red Rose and Saracens.

His national team's head coach feels he can pip the likes of Caelan Doris to the honour of leading Andy Farrell's men Down Under this summer.

Borthwick said: “Maro has been outstanding, he leads by example and he has stepped up his game. I would have full confidence in Maro’s ability to lead the Lions.

“Hopefully, a lot of these players will get picked for the Lions. Part of the role of the coaching staff was to get as many players in the Lions as possible. I hope loads of them will be going. It will be brilliant for them and a phenomenal experience.”

Borthwick’s side dished out a ten-try hammering to register their biggest win in Cardiff as they blew Wales away and, after France beat Scotland 35-16 in Paris last night, took second place in the Six Nations table.

Henry Pollock scored twice on his debut from the bench, Chandler Cunningham-South scored a couple, while there were further tries from Itoje, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Will Stuart, Alex Mitchell and Joe Heyes.

England's win resulted in a first top two finish since their last title win in 2020 and Borthwick is delighted with his upturn in fortunes.

He said: “The team has been progressing for some time. For a period we were falling a bit short but the team has stuck to the process of getting better and we are seeing the fruits of their labour on the pitch. We spoke about this being a special place to play and how we wanted to approach the game. I wanted them to play fast, play big and that is exactly what they did.

“Things like this take time. The thing that pleased me the most is we had a game in round three, against Scotland, which presented different tactical challenges and we found a way to win despite not playing exactly how we wanted to. The players have evolved and challenged themselves from then and I am delighted they have worked on the process of being better.”