England resting captain Maro Itoje during Nations Championship in July
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LONDON (AP) — England captain Maro Itoje will miss the Nations Championship in July.
The decision to rest him was confirmed when coach Steve Borthwick named his squad on Monday.
The 31-year-old Itoje has played more than World Rugby’s recommended 30 matches per season in the past two.
He captained the British and Irish Lions to a series win in Australia last summer, grieved his mother’s death in December, and received permission to delay joining the England camp for the Six Nations.
Hooker Jamie George, who captained England before Itoje and stood in when Itoje started the Six Nations on the bench, will lead the team which has five uncapped players.
They include 19-year-old Saracens wing Noah Caluori, who scored a co-leading 19 tries in the English Premiership, South Africa-born center Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Exeter No. 8 Greg Fisilau, and tighthead props George Kloska and Vilikesa Sela.
England begins the new Nations Championship against world champion South Africa in Johannesburg on July 4, followed by Fiji in Liverpool and Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
Though Borthwick said earlier that standing down Itoje was the right thing to do, he waited to make sure other contending locks came through the weekend.
Charlie Ewels and George Martin played for an England XV in a 35-19 loss to a France XV in Vannes on Friday night and Alex Coles helped Northampton win the Premiership final on Saturday. The fourth specialist lock was Arthur Clark, who got a cap last July against the United States.
Janse van Rensburg doesn’t qualify for England on residency until July 8 but made a non-cap appearance for England off the bench during Friday’s non-test.