LIVIN’ ON THE EDGE Itoje urged not to change
MARO ITOJE has been given the green light to keep on pushing the boundaries – despite the penalty blitz which cost England against Wales last weekend.
The forward was fortunate to escape a yellow card for persistent offending after coughing up five penalties to take his total for the Six Nations to an eye-watering
10 – four more than any other player.
But Saracens and England teammate Jamie George has warned taking away Itoje’s edge will make him half the player.
The hooker,
30, said:
“He is one of the most confrontational players I have ever played with, it’s his game, and that makes him one of the best players in the world.
“It’s a fine line. On a different day, those borderline penalties might not have been given and Maro might have got man of the match and we’d be singing his praises. “My message to Maro – not that he needs it – is that he should obviously learn his lessons but that can’t take away from the intensity and the way he plays.” England top the tournament penalty count alongside Italy as they prepare to take on France at Twickenham this
Saturday. George said: “I thought we actually played some brilliant rugby in parts against Wales but once again that word ‘discipline’ is going to pop up again. We weren’t good enough in that area.
“It’s going to be a big thing that we need to look at going forward into the France game. “
France remain unbeaten but their championship has been disrupted by a Covid outbreak.
George added: “One of the goals we had when we came into this campaign was to put smiles on people’s faces. “We haven’t done that – well, I don’t think we have – so we are looking to do
that.”