Rest? Play? All options open for Itoje's summer

Rest? Play? All options open for Itoje's summerImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Itoje took on the captaincy of club side Saracens, England and the British and Irish Lions over the course of less than 12 months ByMike Henson, BBC Sport rugby union news reporter and Sara Orchard, Rugby union commentatorPublished3 minutes agoCommentsAll options are still open for Maro Itoje's summer schedule, with England's head of performance Phil Morrow saying a final decision on the captain will be taken in a fortnight's time.Itoje is resting at home rather than taking part in a three-day England get-together this week and made a pre-agreed early exit from a training camp in May.The 31-year-old has played more than 30 matches in each of the past two seasons, breaching the recommended limit of 2,400 match minutes in 2023-24 and narrowly avoiding doing so in 2024-25.After leading the British and Irish Lions to a series victory over Australia last summer, his arrival at England's Six Nations training camp earlier this year was delayed as he attended his mother's funeral.England are contemplating resting Itoje for part, or the entirety, of a demanding summer leg of the Nations Championship that begins against South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July, before matches against Fiji in Liverpool and Argentina in Santiago del Estero on the following two weekends."We will make a final decision over the next couple of weeks," said Morrow, who worked with Itoje in his previous role as performance director at Saracens."Everything's still on the table at the moment."There's a couple of weeks of the season left, there's some people in his position playing games still, so all these things have to be factored in, because it's not black and white, as often it's deemed to be."Leicester pair George Martin and Ollie Chessum, Northampton's Alex Coles and Bath's Charlie Ewels are among those taking part in the P...