Itoje fulfils his destiny as present and future leader

It was a day that always felt destined to come. From the moment that Maro Itoje pulled on an England shirt in 2016, a 21-year-old lock looking right at home at Test level, it seemed virtually certain that he would one day ascend to the highest of playing offices.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

The qualities that marked Itoje out back then as a special talent remain after his elevation to the captaincy. A leader by action and word, the second row is approaching his second decade in an England shirt without yet coming under serious threat for his place in the side; even amid a worrying battle with a health issue a couple of years ago, the exact details of which remain undisclosed, Itoje endured as one of his side’s best performers. When Eddie Jones dismissively declared Itoje as “inwardlooking” and the wrong type of leader for his side during his tenure as coach, the lock took the criticism on the chin, knuckled down and got better – but refused to bend or buckle on his style.

“If you look at the great leaders of the past, the common trait amongst them is authenticity,” he explained to The Independent in October, perhaps suspecting that his anointment may soon come. Having been confirmed as captain of Saracens at the start of the season, and with Jamie George unlikely to make the next World Cup, the likelihood always was that Itoje would end up leading England into the tournament in Australia in 2027.

His time is now. “When I asked him to captain the team, the smile that spread across his face could have lit up the whole of England,” Steve Borthwick said, having met with Itoje on the morning before he confirmed his squad for a vital Six Nations. “He will do everything he can to help serve this team and be the best leader he can.

“I came back into the England squad as head coach two years ago and it struck me with Maro – having been away for a number of years from the England squad and having not coached him in that period – that he thinks really well under pressure. He stays calm under pressure. He’s a guy that the diligence of the way he goes about his work every single day is first class.