Alex Coles urges England to seize their chance as Maro Itoje sits out South Africa opener

Alex Coles has called on England to embrace the opportunity created by Maro Itoje’s absence as Steve Borthwick’s side prepare to face world champions South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday in their Nations Championship opener.

Itoje has been rested for the July tour — the first time he has been stood down since making his Test debut a decade ago — with hooker Jamie George deputising as captain. Borthwick is expected to pair Coles alongside George Martin in the second row, with Ollie Chessum continuing at blindside flanker.

“Maro is an absolutely fantastic player, one of the world’s best locks,” said Coles, who started at lock in last year’s 2-0 series victory in Argentina. “I’ve been privileged to get to play alongside him, work with him and train with him. I’ve picked up and learned so much from him.”

Coles was a standout performer in Northampton’s run to the Gallagher Premiership title and now faces the chance to demonstrate England can function without their British and Irish Lions skipper. He drew encouragement from last summer’s Argentina tour, when a Lions-depleted squad still delivered.

“We saw how well we did in Argentina last summer when we had so many players on the Lions tour,” he said. “Loads of people took their opportunity, stepped up and developed their own game.”

Borthwick has selection headaches across the squad ahead of Thursday’s announcement. Freddie Steward has become a doubt after sustaining an ankle injury in training, potentially opening the door for George Furbank to make his first Test appearance since November 2024. Cadan Murley appears to have edged Noah Caluori for a wing berth alongside Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, while the scrum-half position remains unsettled with Alex Mitchell, Ben Spencer, and Jack van Poortvliet all in contention.

England arrive in Johannesburg on the back of a four-Test losing run that included their worst-ever Six Nations campaign. Ellis Park represents one of the most daunting venues in world rugby — England have won there just once, back in 1972 — but Coles insists the squad’s preparation has been thorough.

“We didn’t deliver what we wanted to in the Six Nations and that’s something we’ve been working really hard at in terms of improving our performances,” he said. “Hopefully through the training effort, through all the hard work we put in, the results will start to improve from the Six Nations.”

Further Nations Championship fixtures against Fiji and Argentina follow later in July, giving England additional chances to rebuild momentum ahead of a critical autumn window.