IT’S ITOJE v RYAN IN BATTLE TO BE THE... LION KING

But Sarries’ relegation could ruin Maro bid.. not that he’s worried

BOK TO THE FUTURE Itoje (above) and Ryan both fancy captaining Lions in South Africa next year

MARO ITOJE aims to become The L Lion King by taking inspiration ins from Disney’s film f of the same name.

The England star today takes on Irish ri rival James Ryan, with both men high on the bookies’ shortlist s to captain the Lion Lions against the t h e world w o r l d c h a mp i o n Springboks next summer. Itoje’s path to South Africa is compl complicated by the fact he has no n top-level club rugby this s season and no idea when he will even play for relegated Saracens. He admits to shocking himself when looking l at this weekend’s opening round r o u n d of P Pre re mi e r s h i p fixtures and being bei unable to find his club. cl

“I wa was like, ‘Where’s S Saracens?’ – I forgo forgot that we were down!” down he said. “I don’t really re know when we’re going g to be back playing.”

The RFU h has in fact pencilled in a start st date of January 16 for th the secondtier Championship. Champions That means, for the next two months, Itoje must rely on England to keep himself in the shop window, starting this afternoon at Twickenham. But he insists he will not panic.

“I’m at peace,” he said. “I don’t know if you ever watched The Lion King, but Timon and Pumbaa had a saying – ‘Hakuna Matata’. It means ‘no worries’.

“With this type of thing, where you have no control over the outcome and no control over the planning process, you should try as much as possible just to let it figure itself out and not lose any sleep worrying or being anxious about it.”

Armed with that attitude, the 26-year-old will throw himself at Ireland intent on keeping England on track for a place in next month’s Nations Cup final.

“My goal is to be the best player I can be, to continually improve and push the boundaries of what I can do and where I can go,” he said.

“We know the intensity is about to ramp up, but my game is based around physicality and work rate, and there is definitely room for me to get better.” Itoje’s attitude is mirrored by clubmate Billy Vunipola, who said: “We want Ireland to know that we’re not taking this as just another game.

“We know they’re going to come out firing. Ireland coach Andy Farrell knows when to pump the boys’ tyres up and when to challenge them.

“They ’ve picked a big pack. They want to see if they can negate the advantages from our scrum and mauls and breakdown.

“It’s a nice challenge for us and one that excites a lot of the boys up front.

“You might not see it or hear it, but the way the boys are carrying themselves you can see there’s a quiet confidence about us, as well as a bit of nervous energy, which is never a bad thing.”

England have adopted a ‘bring it on’ mindset to fire themselves up after two low-key outings against Italy and Georgia.

“The team that’s most cohesive, gets in first and wins the big moments,” said defence coach John Mitchell. “We’re looking forward to whatever they chuck at us.”