MARO ITOJE believes that England’s players would reject the opportunity to play in the global breakaway league that is threatening to upend the rugby landscape.

Itoje describes representing his country as the “Mecca” in response to plans to launch a new competition featuring over 200 of the game’s top stars in 2026.

The league, which is at an early stage of development, would see franchises travel the world in a similar vein to Formula One.