by On the same day that Steve Borthwick offered the England captaincy to Jamie George, the 33-year-old was dying with the news that his mother, Jane, had cancer. With every possible emotion swirling inside him, George had to consider whether he could accept the offer given such personal circumstances.
However, Jane, “the biggest rugby fan in the world”, whose passionate support for her son could be seen loudly across school fields and huge stadiums, told him in no uncertain terms that no decision had to be made. When George captained England for the first time against Italy, Jane texted him saying it was the proudest day of her life, but by this time she was too ill to attend matches. Four days after her terminal diagnosis, Jane died on February 14.
“It was very difficult,” said George. “I found out about her cancer diagnosis on the same day I found out I was going to captain England, so it was quite a mixed day. We have been going through a lot as a family for a long time. Her decline was extremely rapid.
“When I told my mum and dad that I was the captain and I was saying that I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing or not considering the circumstances, my mum was in dot She was like, ‘you can’t take this because of me’ and my dad has been very much the same since she died. She ran on Wednesday, Thursday I went home and my dad was like, ‘do you think you’re going to do this training session? I think it would be good for you to go back with the boys’.”
Part of George’s mission statement was to make England supporters proud of their team again and he has seen that firsthand through his mother’s experience. “She was the biggest rugby fan in the world, she loved this team, she loved watching me play, she never missed a game,” George said. “The text I got from her before my first game [as captain] it is something I will treasure forever. She said it was the proudest day of her life, given what she had to do to still be able to put a smile on her face.
“When I first became captain, I talked a lot about showing how much it means to you to play for England and the amazing impact you can have on people’s lives. I have seen it personally. My mother was on her deathbed talking about the England rugby team and how proud she was of me being able to do what I do. That is absolutely incredible. She will be with me in some capacity on Saturday and that means a lot to me.”
George’s mother was her biggest fan, watching every game he played as a schoolboy up until the Six Nations this year when she was too ill to attend games in person. Sometimes her passion got too much for her son to handle. “We had a lot of heated discussions,” George said. “She was loud when I first got into playing rugby – especially professional rugby. It must be a difficult transition; You go from watching your son play for Haileybury School in front of 12 people to the following year I was playing at Vicarage Road for Saracens in front of 20,000 people. His volume level didn’t change, despite sitting in a family box with everyone else’s families around!”
Borthwick spoke to George about whether he needed to take time away from the game and whether he checked in every day on his mental wellbeing. But there was no doubt in George’s own mind that he wanted to play at Murrayfield, especially because that was what she wanted him to do.
“Those thoughts go into your mind [taking time out] but it’s not what she would have wanted me to do – it’s the last thing she wanted me to do,” said George. “It’s not what I wanted to do. It’s a great privilege for me to do what I do and I hope the boys will agree that I’ve fulfilled my role as captain and fulfilled my role as a player on this team.
“It’s not a great situation to be in, but I never doubted that I wanted to be involved in this game. That’s what my Mom would want. Wherever she is now she will be looking down telling everyone there that her son is the England captain. I know that meant a huge amount to her.”
George’s father, uncle, brothers and cousin will be attending Murrayfield on Saturday and he clearly admits it will be an emotional occasion. “Whenever I played, I always wanted to make my family proud,” George said. “It’s a huge driver for me. That won’t change this weekend – it’s likely to improve this weekend. It will be emotional for me coming out. It will be the first game she won’t be there. She couldn’t come to the first two games to watch them, which is difficult in itself.
“That’s always my motivation – to make friends and family proud. It’s probably going to increase this weekend a bit but when you go into the arena, when you step on the pitch, everything that’s happened since then, it’s great to be able to forget everything that happened before.
“Of course I’m going to use motivation, I want to win for her and I want to win her memory as long as I can but I fully understand that Scotland are not going to let us do that. It would be a great story if he did, it would be a great situation for my family but regardless of the result, I’m going out there to make him proud, I’m going out there to do the part another of my family i. the stands are proud too.”
Borthwick, who has now worked alongside George at both club (Saracens) and country, described the keeper as “one of the strongest people I’ve ever met”.
He said: “Having played with Jamie for a number of years at Saracens and followed that up with (coaching) England; Jamie’s brother also worked at Saracens, and I knew Jamie’s mother well. She used to give you the biggest hug after games. She was an incredible person and her loss is very sad. She was at all of Jamie’s games that I remember. That was the same when Jamie was coming through. There are a number of players who have grown up with Jamie who would know his family. So it influenced a lot of players.
“Jamie George has a strength in him that I think people underestimate. He has great quiet strength and is one of the great assets that makes him a great captain. He had to be really strong. All the players are behind him and supporting him. I would describe him as one of the strongest people I have ever met.”
