Itoje’s quest
MARO ITOJE is in sight of completing the perfect season as Saracens attempt to turn their European Champions Cup triumph in Lyon into an historic double over the next fortnight.
The youngest European Player of the Year will lead Saracens’ assault on the Premiership play-offs with a record that so far reads 21 starts, 21 wins for club and country.
The 21-year-old second-row’s extraordinary impact this season was felt again with another man-of-thematch performance in the final.
But after celebrating in modest fashion with a pizza out of a box in the tunnel of the Grand Stade on Saturday night, English rugby’s granite golden boy promised it has not seen anywhere near the best of him yet.
“It’s important to live in the moment and enjoy what’s happening here and now because you have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow. That’s what I try and do,” he said. “But I feel I’m nowhere near where I think I can be. There’s a lot to come. I’m still young. There’s still a hell of a lot of things to work on.
“I need to have that mindset and mentality if I want to keep improving. The plan is to become better at everything. No aspect of my game is perfect. There are a lot of things I treat us unbelievably well. In return, all they ask is that we work unbelievably hard. If you watch us play I think that consistently comes across. The care and love we have for one another, it transfers onto the pitch,” said Itoje.
Saracens can play attacking rugby and they did so in their run to the final, but they were more than content to default to lockdown mode on a sodden surface. As is their risk-averse way, they stuck to the simple things and simply did them better.
Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell took command with their relentless, pinpoint kicking game dubbed a “half-back masterclass” by director of rugby Mark McCall. It must have been like playing an octopus for a Racing side who were unable to overcome the loss of their high-class half-backs, Dan Carter, left, and Maxime Machenaud to injury. By the look of his ineffective 42 minutes Carter, struggling with a calf problem, should not have played at all.
The nerveless Farrell, with seven kicks out of seven, ended the tournament as top point-scorer with 127. “Owen is a phenomenal player and when it comes to big occasions that’s
when he steps up