Steve Borthwick backed England captain Maro Itoje to lead the British and Irish Lions in Australia after his side ended their Six Nations campaign with a 68-14 hammering of Wales.
Victory wasn't enough to give England their first Six Nations title in five years, with Borthwick's men finishing runners-up after France were crowned champions following a 35-16 defeat of Scotland in Paris in the final match of the tournament on Saturday.
England ran in 10 tries against a woeful Wales in Cardiff, with Saracens lock Itoje opening the scoring in just the third minute as the Red Rose brigade, who won four of their five games following a first-round loss away to defending champions Ireland, ended their Six Nations in superb style.
We end our #GuinnessM6N campaign with a win 🌹#WALvENG pic.twitter.com/utB4LzPlsS
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 15, 2025
"I think Maro has been absolutely outstanding," said England coach Borthwick. "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."
Ireland coach Andy Farrell has been seconded to take charge of the Lions for a tour of Australia featuring three tests against the Wallabies in July and August.
Another clinical finish from Chandler Cunningham-South 👊#WALvENG | #GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/JHDLyQpQtR
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 15, 2025
Farrell is due to name his squad on May 8, with former England captain Borthwick saying: "I've got full confidence in Maro's ability to lead the Lions should Andy ask him."
BOOST TO LION'S PROSPECT
Several other players did their Lions prospects no harm at the Principality Stadium, with flanker Ben Curry impressive in a back row featuring twin brother Tom as England outmuscled Wales, finishing bottom of the championship table two years in a row for the first time, to pile up a record score against their border rivals.
Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman – whose try on Saturday meant he scored one in every round of the tournament – Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart followed Itoje's lead in a first half that ended with England all but out of sight at 33-7.
The support line from Henry Pollock 👌#WALvENG | #GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/VUmzxDUCVJ
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 15, 2025
England added five more in the second half, with scrum-half Alex Mitchell, debutant replacement Henry Pollock (twice), Joe Heyes and Cunningham-South again all crossing Wales' line.
"The next thing for these players is that hopefully a lot of them will get picked for the Lions," said Borthwick. "It was Kevin Sinfield (England's skills and kicking coach) who proposed that part of our role is to get as many of them on that plane as possible.
"Our job is to help them do that and hopefully there will be a lot of England players heading Down Under in a couple of months' time on that Lions plane."
Thank you for joining us today, Your Royal Highness 🌹@KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/6gVn5ZRZIo
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 15, 2025
England may have inflicted Wales' 17th straight test defeat but few forecasted a victory by 54 points.
"I wanted the players to play big and fast, aggressive with the ball and that's exactly what they did," said Borthwick.
"That's a sign that this young team just embraces challenges and it is growing and developing fast... We were just falling short before of getting those actual wins but the team has stuck to the process."