CARDIFF, Wales -- Steve Borthwick has backed Maro Itoje to captain the British & Irish Lions this summer after he helped inspire England to a record 68-14 win over Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
England were sensational and crossed for 10 tries against Wales, as Borthwick's side handed the hosts their 17th straight Test defeat. Henry Pollock crossed twice on his Test debut, while there were also tries for Itoje, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Chandler Cunningham-South (two), Will Stuart, Alex Mitchell and Joe Heyes.
It was as close to a perfect afternoon as England have ever had in Wales to secure their best return in a Six Nations competition since 2020. It was Itoje's first campaign leading the team, and post-match, Borthwick said he would have no hesitation in recommending Itoje to British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell as a potential candidate to captain the team on this summer's tour to Australia.
"I think Maro has been absolutely outstanding," Borthwick said.
"He leads by example every day, and he's stepped up his game. He's improved in many areas this campaign and set an example. He's an experienced player at Test level and Lions level. I've got full confidence in Maro's ability to lead the Lions should Andy ask him."
It was England's best ever win against Wales in Cardiff, and was the second-most points Wales have conceded in a Test match.
"We spoke about this being a special place to come and play," Borthwick said. "We then spoke about how we wanted to approach the game. I wanted the players to play big, play fast and aggressive with the ball, and that is exactly what they did. It shows the sign of this young team that embraces challenges and is growing and developing fast."
Borthwick hopes this performance will help push several of his team's case for a spot on the Lions tour this summer.
"The next thing for these players is hopefully lots of them will get picked for the Lions. I think the players have created good headaches for Andy," Borthwick said.
"The kind of headaches that you want to have as a coach. Lots of players are putting their hand up and showing a case that they should be on that plane.
"We as a coaching team talks about -- Kevin Sinfield proposed it -- that part of our role is to get as many players on that plane as possible. Our job is to help them do that. Hopefully there will be a lot of England players heading Down Under on that Lions tour in a couple of months' time."
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