Jamie George relishing England captaincy challenge despite Owen Farrell boo boys

Jamie George believes the pressure of captaining England will be worth it as he hailed his greatest achievement yet.

The 33-year-old hooker revealed that Steve Borthwick gave him a full weekend to mull over the offer of the England captaincy.

George was minded to accept straight away, but took the time instead to confer with family and friends – before taking up the challenge after that reflection.

Under the spectre of Owen Farrell being booed at the World Cup as a captain leading England to a third-place finish, George admitted he did have to consider the murky elements of leadership.

But the six-time Premiership and three-time European Cup champion with Saracens knew in the end he would only have one answer to being asked to lead his country.

Farrell stepped down after the World Cup, taking a Test match break in part for his mental health.

George knows the pitfalls, but still cannot wait to lead England out in Rome for the Six Nations opener against Italy on February 3.

“We spoke a bit about what it might look like then Steve was amazing and said, ‘Take the weekend to have a think about it, because it can have a big impact on you, as we’ve seen’,” said George.

“It was a bit like a proposal to be honest! At the time I wanted to snap his hand off and say yes, but it was good to be able to speak to my family over the weekend and get their thoughts on it all. I phoned him first thing on the Monday to accept.

“I think when you’re given the weekend to go and think about things, the obvious thing to do is to go and look at both sides of the coin. And for me, there are so many positives that come with this.

“This is the greatest achievement of my life. Stepping out on the field in Rome is going to be one of the best moments that I will ever experience.

“And I felt like it was a decision that if I had turned down for other reasons I would have absolutely regretted. Because I feel I’m at a good stage of my career to step up and take this on.

“I think having a good understanding of what might be out there, what might be out there to come, but at the same time I’m also hopeful that we’ve learned a lot of lessons from the Owen situation and a lot of people out there have a better understanding of the reality of life, the reality of professional rugby players, that we are all human beings.

“So I’m hopeful for a much more positive environment to be able to work in.”

George conferred on his decision with team-mate and good friend Farrell, as well as Saracens boss Mark McCall.

The vastly experienced Lions front-rower also revealed an impressive cast list of leadership greats from whom he can pull the odd piece of advice.

“We’ve been so lucky in terms of the people who have come in to speak to us at England in the past,” said George.

Jamie George

“To name a few would be Sir Alex Ferguson, and the way he managed people was absolutely fantastic.

“Roy Keane came in and spoke to us and was absolutely amazing, then more recently Gareth Southgate. We’ve had him in a couple of times and been able to pick his brain.

“All three of those people have very different opinions and approaches to how they view the game and treating people. It’s absolutely fascinating how each one has had success in their own way.

“The main lesson I’ve learned there is that they’ve doubled down on what they believe in. And in that respect people know what they are going to get out of you as a person.

“We’ve been really lucky to have some cool people come into camp.”