Maro Itoje urges England to 'Seize the Moment' against Scotland

Maro Itoje has called on his England teammates to step up and “seize the moment” as they prepare to face Scotland in a crucial Calcutta Cup clash.

The England captain believes his side has made progress and now needs to prove their development by delivering a strong performance against their northern rivals.

Steve Borthwick’s squad heads into the fixture with renewed confidence following a much-needed victory over France. The win marked a significant breakthrough, as England had struggled to close out tight encounters over the past year.

Despite a statement win over Ireland during the 2024 Six Nations, England repeatedly fell short in high-pressure matches against top-tier opposition.

A failure to back up their latest victory could fuel concerns that their progress remains inconsistent, especially if Scotland extend their dominance in the Calcutta Cup with a record fifth consecutive win over England.

Itoje remains confident that England has learned from past experiences and is ready to take the next step in their development.

“We need to seize our moments. In any game you have a finite amount of moments that are there for you to take.

"In the games after that Ireland win, whether it was France or in New Zealand and beyond, we had those moments but we didn’t seize them. Our opportunity now is to seize the moment.”

He acknowledged Scotland’s impressive record in recent years but emphasized that England must capitalize on key opportunities.

“Scotland are a good team, no doubt. Their record against us dictates that. But I believe that if we do our job when we get into those moments, when we have those opportunities and we take advantage and execute, I believe we will do well.”

For England, consistency is now the primary goal. Itoje stressed that their journey to becoming a top-tier team requires backing up strong performances with continued success.

“That's the growth. If we want to be a great team then we have to beat some tough teams and then beat some more tough teams. If we want to be the team that we want to be, that's the journey we have to follow.

"We played France and we got it done, a tight win; we are playing Scotland - a tight win, hopefully - and that's the growth. If we continue on that trajectory then we're going to be moving closer to the type of team that we want to be.”