Maro Itoje is a name on the lips of a lot of people in rugby at the moment. He is a player that has improved at a flying rate over the past few seasons and has made a lot of fans along the way.
He may be young at just 21 years of age, but Itoje has been one of the best players in Europe this season and is showing the potential to become world-class over the next few years. This is something that few players can claim, especially after England’s poor performance at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
However, not only is he a great player, but he is also a phenomenal leader. He leads by example and has a track record of leading teams to success, both internationally and domestically.
He has been captain of an England Under 20s side that won the Junior World Championship in 2014, the Saracens Storm side that won the A-League and the Saracens side that won the LV Cup.
He then went on to continue his amazing breakthrough season of 2014/15 by breaking into the senior side and being picked ahead of the likes of Kelly Brown and Jackson Wray. Playing at six, he helped his team to a Champions Cup semi-final finish, where they narrowly lost to Clermont 13-9.
He also played a big role in his side’s successful domestic campaign, which ended with Saracens holding the Aviva Premiership trophy after dispatching Bath – a match where Itoje played opposite Sam Burgess. Both of these big matches saw Itoje rise to the occasion and perform better than people with far more experience than the young lock/flanker.
This season has seen his immense rate of improvement show no signs of slowing. He has formed a great partnership with George Kruis in the Saracens engine room and has had a big say on the outcome of every match he has played in.
Eddie Jones has picked the youngster because of his immense talent. He is hugely physical as well as being quick and possessing soft hands to put others into space and offload. He is also one of the players with the highest number of turnovers in the league and with Eddie Jones stating that the breakdown was a real issue for England, Itoje will help greatly.
Furthermore, Itoje is a student of the game, he may be young, but his ability to understand the opposition and both steal at the line-out and disrupt play have been a large help to the Londoners efforts this season. Eddie Jones will also be giving more experience to a man who is almost certain be an England captain at some stage in his career, as well as having the potential to gain 100+ caps for his country.
Itoje has the potential to be a superstar and Mark McCall told The Guardian:
He’s dealt with every next step really well. It’s easy to forget he was our A-team captain last year and only became a first-team regular at the end of March.
In the last 12 games he’s been up there as one of our best players. He’s ready to play and I think he can play international rugby but there are some good second-rows in the country.
However, we do not want Itoje to become one of those players that shows so much promise but then fails to deliver, we need to introduce him at the right speed and not rush him. I do expect him to be captain come 2019, but he needs to be confident and experienced on the international stage before he is handed the armband.
