Itoje highlights 'non-negotiable' to upset France
SPOTLIGHT: England captain Maro Itoje has insisted physicality is “non-negotiable” as his side look to revive their Six Nations campaign against France at Twickenham on Saturday.
France opened this year’s edition with a 43-0 rout of Wales in Paris last Friday where they scored seven tries.
And yet for all France captain and scrumhalf star Antoine Dupont is the headline act, Les Bleus also boasts a colossal pack featuring giant forwards in lock Emmanuel Meafou and prop Uini Atonio.
Itoje, himself a lock, knows England must win the contest up front if his second match as England skipper, but first at Twickenham, doesn’t go the way of his first – last week’s 22-27 loss to Ireland in Dublin.
“The non-negotiable, first and foremost, is the physicality,” Itoje said after coach Steve Borthwick named his side to play the French.
“You need to make sure you’re physical, that you’re winning that gainline because they [France] are a team that if you allow them to do that then they become difficult.
“We want to be aggressive as a team, getting off the line and hitting them and stopping them in their tracks.
“That’s our mindset. They’re a big, heavy team, they maul around some of their big boys but from my point of view we need to get stuck into that.”
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England have lost their last seven Tests against leading nations and Itoje, who has succeeded Saracens teammate Jamie George as England captain, said: “It is a big game, it is big occasion and we want to win.
“The team wants to move forward, the team wants to win and to be the team we want to be, these are the games we have to win.”
Flyhalf Fin Smith has been given a first Test start by Borthwick, who is as impressed by the 22-year-old’s “tough and brave” defence as his playmaking skill.
Itoje, who has faced Smith in club action, added: “He’s a cool, calm, collected sort of player. He makes a lot of good decisions.
“As a No.10, you [the opposition] want to force them to make poor decisions and he is quite tricky to do that against because he often finds the right pass or makes the right decision in the kicking game.
“When I listen to him speak I’m surprised that he is only 22. He’s ready and I’m excited to see him go.”
