England captain Maro Itoje says he was initially shocked when head coach Steve Borthwick raised the possibility of him taking the summer off.

Itoje missed England’s matches against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in July, holidaying in Mauritius and Nigeria as he took a first proper summer break from professional rugby in more than a decade.

The 31-year-old, whose mother died in the weeks before he led England through a deflating Six Nations campaign that featured just one win, says he is now feeling the benefits of his time away.

“I spoke to Steve Borthwick two weeks after the Six Nations and at the end of a long conversation he mentioned we would have to think about what to do in the summer,” Itoje told Rugby Union Weekly.

“I was taken aback a bit – it wasn’t something that was in my mind.

“At the end of the season it is just the done thing to go on tour.

“But once I had digested it and had thought about it, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it was the best thing for me.

“I’m not annoyed by it at all. It was a wise and prudent decision, it has given me the best opportunity to perform well over the next period of time.”

Itoje made his England debut in 2016 and has won 102 caps, as well as touring three times with the British and Irish Lions.

He played more than 30 matches in each of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, breaching the recommended limit of 2,400 match minutes in the former and narrowly avoiding doing so in the latter.

“I would argue that the mental recovery was far more significant than physically,” he said.

“I feel like I’m in a good physical condition, but mentally it was a heavy, busy year, both personally and professionally. So, it was nice to have just a bit of time to take a breath.”

Itoje bumped into the England squad at Heathrow Airport as their return from a defeat by the Springboks in Johannesburg coincided with his own from Nigeria.

“I was on the shuttle train back to baggage reclaim and looked to my right and there was [Saracens and England team-mate] Jamie George, I looked to my left and there was Steve Borthwick, and they both looked at me in disbelief,” he added.

Apart from that coincidence, Itoje kept his distance from the England set-up over the summer, sending the squad the odd good luck message, but opting against watching their games live.

“It was difficult to do, but when you’re supposed to take a break, then if you’re living and breathing every moment of a game…” he said.

“I watched them back in retrospect [knowing the final score], partly because I wanted to remove some of the emotion from watching it.

“That’s the beauty of live sport – when you watch a game, you’re in every nook and cranny, every tackle.

“But that also probably has a hidden emotional weight. The whole purpose of the rest was to get back on the even keel, so that was my methodology.”

Itoje’s rest precedes another busy period in his life.

Saracens’ Prem season begins away to Leicester on 27 September before England take on Australia, Japan, New Zealand and a final’s weekend play-off opponent in November’s conclusion to the Nations Championship.

And the start of the Rugby World Cup in Australia is a little over a year away.

Meanwhile, his wife Mimi is expecting the couple’s first child – a boy – imminently.

“I am very excited,” Itoje added

“I want a minimum of three children, I don’t really have a maximum.

“My cousin’s grandfather must have 60 kids, but that isn’t a route I am going down!”