Given he is now England captain, it is funny to think that Maro Itoje described himself as a “headless chicken” when first playing rugby.
Itoje was, in fairness, just 11 at the time and before his school headmaster had told him to give rugby a try, his sporting interests lay elsewhere in athletics, basketball and football.
It quickly became apparent, though, that Itoje could be a phenomenal rugby player and his remarkable rise peaked this month when he was named England captain ahead of the Six Nations.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has made a bold call in deciding Itoje should replace Jamie George, but after two wins in their past eight games, England need a reboot and the belief is that Itoje is the right man to lead them into a new era.
“There’s a load of promise,” he says. “There’s a whole load of potential. My role is to help us realise that. We often speak about great captains and what they do. The most important thing is that you play well. That’s the best form of leadership. People listen to your words, but they follow your actions.”
Impact man
It was in a coffee shop this month that Borthwick broke the news to Itoje that he wanted him to be England captain. Itoje’s response came with a smile that Borthwick says could have “lit up the whole of England”.
The announcement caught many off guard, though, given the way George had captained England last year. The hooker found out he had been made captain on the same day his late mother was diagnosed with cancer and he led the team with great distinction, even during a poor run of form in the autumn.
“They are very different personalities, Maro and Jamie,” says Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, who coaches the pair at club level. “So if there is any difference in their captaincy it is due to differences in their personalities, because they are both true to themselves and very authentic. People want to be led by people who are like that.”
A key reason why Borthwick was attracted to the idea of Itoje as England captain was because of his physical prowess.
Itoje routinely plays the whole 80 minutes of every match. In contrast, during England’s four games this autumn, the latest George came off in a game was the 52nd minute. Part of the reasoning behind some of those changes were tactical, but nonetheless it meant Borthwick’s side were going deep into tight games without their captain on the pitch.
Eight of England’s 12 matches last year were won or lost by a margin of a converted try or less and it is clear better leadership is needed in the late pressure moments. Borthwick believes Itoje can bring that, viewing him as a thinker and someone who is respected and influential in the dressing room. Itoje will look to lead by example and is regarded as one of the best trainers around.
“Maro is as dedicated a player as I have come across,” says McCall. “I think Maro always knows that the best way for him to lead is by actions. He has done that for years and he knows that the key to his leadership is what he does on the field.”
Itoje’s athletic ability is, in part, natural but also the product of years of hard work. When he was studying full time and part of Saracens’ academy, his day started with a 5.50am alarm clock and a 7am gym session.
That work ethic has not left him and three years ago he spent part of his off-season at the Under Armour Human Performance Centre in Portland. No stone was left unturned.
Itoje was involved in the modelling of his boots — which he describes as a “Batmobile” — and he also spent time working on breathing techniques. It is no surprise then that, at the Six Nations launch in Rome last week, Itoje’s message to his team-mates was simple: “We need to work harder.”
Ready to lead
Saturday will be the proudest moment of Itoje’s career as he leads out England as captain in Dublin to take on Ireland. It is debated whether he was always destined for such a role and former England boss Eddie Jones is one of those who did not see Itoje as captain material.
In Jones’s book Leadership: Lessons From My Life in Rugby, he described Itoje as “very inward-looking” and someone who drives himself and not others.
Jones even claimed he sent Itoje to acting lessons to improve his communication. “I can confirm that I never went to acting lessons,” Itoje said at the start of this season. “I was not waltzing across a stage or practising my Shakespearean prose.”
The truth was Itoje had been seeing a psychologist at the time, who worked on techniques that enabled him to get messages to team-mates across more effectively.
The view of Itoje at Saracens, where he was made captain at the start of this season, differs greatly from that of Jones. Those at the club saw leadership potential from an early age and in 2014, aged 20, he captained Saracens in the LV Cup. That same year, Itoje was captain of the England Under-20 side that won the Junior World Championship.
“Having known Maro since being a really young man, I don’t think it was ever a case of if, it was probably when [he would be England captain],” says Brad Barritt, who played alongside Itoje at Saracens. “You just got a sense that he had a dream and a vision — and he was not going to leave any stone unturned in getting to that place.”
I never went to acting lessons - I was never waltzing across a stage
Maro Itoje
Barritt is one of several Saracens captains Itoje has learned from and the club has an incredible track record for developing leaders. Key to that is the club’s leadership programme, which is run by David Jones — who looks after the personal development of Saracens’ playing group.
The club identify those with leadership potential early and a bespoke programme is designed. Part of the process involves speaking to leaders from all sorts of backgrounds, including business, politics, military and rugby. One of Itoje’s first meetings was a lunch with World Cup winner Martin Johnson nearly a decade ago.
It is often those from outside rugby, however, who make a bigger impact and one of Barritt’s most impactful meetings was with Andrew Cotton, a professional big wave surfer.
Saracens have always been out-of-the-box thinkers and, at the heart of it, you’ve got leaders and players who have been exposed to far more than the traditional rugby roots,” says Barritt. The programme clearly works — England’s past three captains have all come via the Saracens academy.
Outside influences
When citing leaders he looks up to, Itoje names pioneering Ghanaian politician Kwame Nkrumah and former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. His dream dinner guests would be Jay-Jay Okocha, Malcom X and Muhammad Ali.
In short, Itoje is not your ordinary sportsman and has stressed how he does not want to be known as just a rugby player. He has a BA in politics from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, while he also completed an MBA from Warwick Business School.
Itoje has a passion for African art, launching his own gallery in 2023 to help underrepresented artists, and much of that is down to his childhood.
His parents, Efe and Florence, are both Nigerian and Itoje says he lived in London, but when he walked into the family home he was transported to Lagos. Itoje’s father had an African food store in Cricklewood, but his main priority was that his son focused on his studies.
One April Fools, Itoje pranked his father by sending an email saying he was not attending university because he wanted to concentrate on rugby. His father did not speak to him for three days.
Described as being a child full of energy, Itoje’s outlet was sport. He was a talented shot-putter and a big Arsenal fan, revealing recently how he cried in 2008 when the Gunners were knocked out by Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals. Itoje’s cousin, Andre Harriman-Annous, plays for Arsenal’s Under-18 team and he attends games at the Emirates Stadium whenever he can.
Rugby, however, is his main focus and Itoje has Floyd Steadman, the former Saracens captain, to thank for that. Steadman was Itoje’s headmaster at Salcombe prep school and, before Itoje headed off to St George’s boarding school in Harpenden aged 11, he told him to take up rugby.
Before then, rugby was not on Itoje’s radar and he did not even watch England win the World Cup in 2003. Now, though, Itoje has the chance to lead England forward and follow in the footsteps of those greats who preceded him.
