Maro Itoje insists England must turn their clash with France into a battle of character as they look to claw back some respectability from a disappointing Guinness Six Nations.
If they fall to a fourth successive defeat in the final act of ‘Super Saturday’, England will be condemned to their worst Championship finish since 1987 when they registered just one win.
Antoine Dupont’s title-chasers are heavy favourites to inflict further misery on a major rival who just five weeks ago were celebrating a 12th successive Test victory and plotting their route to a tournament decider in Paris.
Itoje believes it is time for England to show their true selves in their last match before head coach Steve Borthwick enters the post-Six Nations review conducted by the Rugby Football Union in which he will be fighting for his future.
“It’s not about ‘oh, we want to kick here, we want to run here, we want to do this line-out move’. This game is not about that,” England’s captain said.
“This game is about showing each other and showing our fans what we are really about, what we are truly about.
“This game is an opportunity for us to show the character of this team. And I genuinely believe this team is going somewhere. Unfortunately, as of late we haven’t been able to put that consistently on the park.
“But this is a brilliant opportunity and perhaps this opportunity is necessary for us to be the team we need to be, against a good quality French side, in their own backyard. We have the opportunity to go out there and give the very best of ourselves.
“It’s more than just doing this scrum here or doing this line-out here, or tactics of the game. This is an opportunity for us to show each other what we are truly about.”
With France on the brink of defending their crown, England have been written off ahead of their final assignment before the start of the Nations Championship against world champions South Africa on July 4.
Itoje, however, pays little attention to predictions knowing his side were backed to beat Italy in round four only to suffer a 23-18 loss.
“When we played France last year they were heavy favourites (England won 26-25),” he said. “We’ve played a number of teams in the past and won games where the other side has been the favourites.
“I’m sure we were the favourites against Italy last weekend and I think a lot of people have lost a lot of money at Cheltenham betting on favourites. Being the favourite is neither here nor there.
“There are core aspects of our game, despite the losses, that have been going reasonably well. We just need to bring the best of ourselves and I think we can do a job.
“Despite the losses, how I feel at the moment hasn’t actually changed since the start of the competition.
“I think this team is going somewhere and I’m desperate to be a part of it. This team can beat pretty much every team we play if we get ourselves right.”
