How to chill to the Maro
EVERYTHING Eddie Jones touches turns to gold and Maro Itoje has warned the rest of the teams in the Six Nations that his Midas touch is not about to desert him.
Itoje put in a double shift in Cardiff on Saturday as England beat Wales 21-16 to take their unbeaten run to 16 Tests – two short of the record held by the All Blacks.
They have dug out wins against France and Wales, coming from behind twice with their bench – or “the finishers” as Jones calls them – getting them over the line.
The winning streak will come to an end at some point but the bad news for the rest of rugby is that Itoje believes the squad will only get better and their never-say-die attitude means they cannot be ruled out of any game.
Itoje, 22, said: “It was a pretty resilient group of players out there. Last week against France we were drawing at halftime; this week we were down.
“So we back our training and we know that teams are going to have to work very hard if they want to get a result against us. We didn’t play as well as we think this team can. We’ll go away and work on it.
“The difference in the scores I don’t think was ever more than six. That’s less than a converted try. With the type of players we have and the quality of coaches, we always back ourselves.
“Evidence backs up what I said. If it was a weaker group we potentially could have crumbled at half-time at 13-8 behind. Wales went for us in that second quarter and I think a weaker group would have cracked. The strength, resolve and the character of the team pulled us through.”
Itoje played with a No6 on his back in Cardiff but in the scrums packed down in the second row, with Courtney Lawes shifting to blindside flanker, to add some power to England’s set-piece.
There is a feeling that Itoje could play just about anywhere but he is happy to shift between lock and back row, which he seems to be able to do with his eyes shut.
He said: “I’ve played second row and I’ve played No6 – I feel pretty comfortable at both. The coaches make the decisions they do and I just follow.
“Having those two quality players, Courtney and Joe Launchbury, at the side of me helps so they have the choice of which combination they want to use.
“If you asked me two and a half years ago I probably would have said I’m not really a scrummager but I want to try to be the most complete player I can and that means scrummaging and work around the field.”
Itoje has gone the distance in England’s two opening games and seen the carnage that players such as James Haskell and Ben Te’o have caused off the bench.
“Eddie talks about starters and finishers and we know the quality of our bench is up there at a very high level,” said Itoje. “The guys who come on week-in and week-out add so much.”
The heavy artillery is not likely to be needed in England’s next game, against Italy at Twickenham on Sunday week. But they will be required at the business end of the Six Nations Championship in games against Scotland and Ireland which could land England a second successive Grand Slam.
We’re only going to get better