Making Maro Itoje captain could give England a new dimension | Robert Kitson

Recent World Cups and Six Nations have been won by sides led by talismanic forwards at the heart of the actionWhenever England flatter to deceive the mind drifts back to Brighton sea front. The date was 19 September 2015 and the beach was packed with fans awaiting the World Cup pool game between South Africa and Japan. Not a soul – even in Hove, actually – gave the Brave Blossoms any chance of overcoming the mighty Springboks.Aside, that is, from one man. It emerged afterwards that Japan’s head coach, a certain Eddie Jones, had been plotting how to win this particular fixture for two years. He…