Maro Itoje will be the first Englishman to lead the Lions in 24 years after he was confirmed as Andy Farrell’s captain for this summer’s tour to Australia.

England skipper Itoje, 30, will captain the side on his third Lions tour having been named Player of the Series in the Covid-hit 2-1 defeat to South Africa last time out in 2021.

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On stage, Itoje said: “It’s hard to articulate really. It’s a tremendous honour and privilege. You think about the people who have held this position before and it’s remarkable. It’s an honour and I’ll do my very best to make sure I can contribute to a successful tour.

“I found out on Tuesday. I got a call from an Irish number… I don’t have many Irish people calling me! I picked it up and heard a Wigan accent. I put two and two together. The signal was quite bad.”

Farrell revealed he had to initially hang-up due to a dodgy line before offering the role to Itoje, who becomes the 47th man to captain the British & Irish Lions.

Itoje succeeded his club-mate Jamie George as England captain ahead of this year’s Six Nations with England beating eventual winners France and finishing second. The second-row is also Saracens’ captain having been given the role ahead of the start of this season after Owen Farrell’s move to Racing 92.

The last Englishman to have the honour of captaining a Lions tour was World Cup winner Martin Johnson, also in Australia, in 2001 when Graham Henry’s men slipped to a 2-1 series defeat. Johnson famously also led the Lions to victory in South Africa in 1997.

Chants of “Oooh, Maro Itoje” rang out around the O2 in London as a beaming Itoje walked up to the stage having been announced by Farrell to kickstart the live event hosted by the Lions in-front of fans.

Itoje’s case for the captaincy will have been aided by the shoulder injury suffered by the initial frontrunner Caelan Doris. The Leinster skipper has had surgery on the injury he sustained in the Invetec Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton on Saturday.

Doris had been installed as the bookies’ favourite after Lions coach Andy Farrell made him Ireland captain, succeeding Peter O’Mahony, himself a former Lions Test captain in New Zealand in 2017.

Itoje is the first black captain in the 137-year history of the Lions and when he was rumoured to be in the running in 2021, he told Sky Sports: “I do acknowledge how significant an event like that would be if it does happen but I guess fate will decide.”

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