On the same day that Steve Borthwick presented Jamie George with the England captaincy, the 33-year-old was coping with the news that his mother, Jane, had been diagnosed with cancer. With every possible emotion stirring within him, George had to weigh whether he could accept the offer given such personal circumstances.
Yet Jane, ‘the world’s biggest rugby fan’, whose passionate support for her son echoed equally loudly across school fields and major stadiums, told him in no uncertain terms that there was no decision. When George captained England against Italy for the first time, Jane texted him to say it was the proudest day of her life, but by now she was too ill to attend matches. Four days after her diagnosis became terminal, Jane passed away on February 14.
“It was very tough,” George said. “I heard about her cancer diagnosis on the same day I found out I was going to be England captain, so that was quite a mixed day. We have been through a lot as a family for a long time. The decline she experienced was very rapid.
“When I told my mom and dad that I was captain and I said I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do or not under the circumstances, my mom was literally distraught. She was like, ‘You can’t put up with this because of me’ and my dad has been much the same way since she passed away. She passed away on Wednesday, I went home on Thursday and my dad said, ‘Do you think you’re going to pass this training? I think it would be good for you to be with the boys again.”
Part of George’s mission was to make England supporters proud of their team again and he saw that first-hand through his mother’s experience. “She was the biggest rugby fan in the world, she loved this team, loved watching me play, she never missed a game,” George said. “The text I got from her before my first game [as captain] is something I will cherish forever. She said it was the proudest day of her life, given what she went through to still be able to put a smile on her face is huge.
“When I first became captain I talked a lot about how much it means to you to play for England and what a tremendous impact you can have on people’s lives. I’ve seen it firsthand. My mother was on her deathbed talking about the England rugby team and how proud she was that I could do what I do. That’s absolutely incredible. She will be with me in some capacity on Saturday and that means the world to me.”
George’s mother was his biggest fan and watched all his matches as a schoolboy until this year’s Six Nations when she was too ill to attend the games in person. Sometimes her passion became too much for her son. “We had quite a few heated debates,” George said. “She was quite vocal when I first started playing rugby, especially professional rugby. It must be a difficult transition; You go from seeing your son play for Haileybury School in front of twelve people to the following year I was playing at Vicarage Road for Saracens in front of 20,000 people. Her volume level didn’t change despite being in a family box with everyone else’s families nearby!
Borthwick spoke to George about whether he should take time off from the match and has been monitoring his mental wellbeing every day. Yet there was never any doubt in George’s mind that he wanted to play at Murrayfield, not least because that is what she would have expected of him.
“Those thoughts enter your head [taking time out] but it’s not what she would have wanted me to do – it’s actually the last thing she would have wanted me to do,” George said. “This is not what I wanted to do. I feel very privileged to do what I do and hopefully the boys will agree that I have been able to fulfill my role as captain and my role as a player in this team.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but I never doubted that I wanted to be involved in this competition. It’s what my mother would have wanted. Wherever she is now, she will look down and tell everyone that her son is the captain of England. I’m sure this meant the world to her.
George’s father, uncle, brothers and cousin will go to Murrayfield on Saturday, which he clearly admits will be an emotional event. “Every time I’ve played, I’ve always wanted to make my family proud,” George said. “It has been a huge motivation for me. That won’t change this weekend – it will probably be improved this weekend. It will be emotional for me to get out. It will be the first match she won’t be there. She couldn’t come and watch the first two games, which was tough in itself.
“That has always been my motivation: to make friends and family proud. It’s probably going to be multiplied quite a bit this weekend, but when you step into the arena, when you step onto the field, everything that happened out there, it’s actually quite a nice feeling to be able to forget everything that happened before.
“Of course I’m going to use my motivation, I want to win for her and I want to win as much as possible in her memory, but I’m fully aware that Scotland won’t let us do that. It would be a great story if it were, it would be a great situation for my family, but regardless of the outcome, I’m going out there to make her proud, I’m going out there to convince the rest of my family to hit the stands are also proud.”
Borthwick, who has now worked with George at both club (Saracens) and country, described the hooker as “one of the strongest people I have ever met”.
He said: “I played alongside Jamie at Saracens for a number of years and continued that with (coaching) England; Jamie’s brother also worked at Saracens, and I knew Jamie’s mother quite well. She always gave you the biggest hug after games. She was an incredible person and a very sad loss. She was at all of Jamie’s games that I can remember. It was the same when Jamie came along. There are a number of players who grew up with Jamie and would have known his family. So it has affected a lot of players.
“Jamie George has a strength within him that I think some people underestimate. He has a quiet strength that is phenomenal and it is one of the great assets that makes him a brilliant captain. He had to be very strong. All the players are right behind him and supporting him. I would describe him as one of the strongest people I have ever met.”
