I’ll never take it easy and lose my inner drive to win
Nick Verdier meets Maro Itoje and finds a player determined to keep improving
Maro Itoje could be forgiven for simply riding the wave of success he has enjoyed in the past two seasons but winning is “infectious” and he is hungry for more.
In the space of two years since leading England U20s to World Cup glory in New Zealand, Itoje, 22 next week, has become one of the first names on the team sheet for both England and Saracens, going on a 31-game winning run that only ended against Harlequins earlier this month.
His trophy cabinet has also been filling rapidly with two Premierships, one Champions Cup plus the LV=Cup in 2015.
His talent is undeniable and at only 21 he is already spoken of as a potential Lions captain for next summer’s tour to New Zealand. But, talking exclusively to
The Rugby Paper, he said: “Nothing comes easy and as soon as you start thinking like that it’s the start of a downward spiral.
“I personally have that inner motivation to do well and I like winning. It’s quite fun and I want to maximise my chances to keep doing that for as long as I can.
“Being involved with both Saracens and England, where there is that infectious desire to get better, also helps. I want to be part of these organisations.
“Losing to Quins the other week wasn’t ideal but I knew my winning run was going to end one day. But like with everything, the important thing was to understand how you could have done better and how you can improve to maximise your chances of it not happening again.
“It was a good lesson for us and we’ve got better since.”
Itoje adds: “Growing up in the era of Jonny Wilkinson and the whole team who won the World Cup in 2003 had a big effect on me, but my biggest influence was Muhammad Ali because of everything he stood for and the type of athlete he was.
“I do reflect on what I’ve achieved in the past two seasons but I don’t dwell on it. With sport everything happens so quickly and there are new opportunities ahead which I’m really excited about.”
His first senior trophy was the LV=Cup in 2015. In fact, he is the reigning winning captain as the Anglo-Welsh competition had to make way last season to accommodate the World Cup calendar.
Being so successful means a lot of good memories for Itoje already, but the LV=Cup will always be the competition that allowed him to make the step up to senior rugby.
He added: “A lot of special things have happened. Making my England debut was special and so was being part of a Grand Slam winning team. Being the first Saracens team to win the European Cup was incredible, too.
“Winning the LV=Cup was really cool. I was part of a young group of players who came through the academy together and first played in the A-League.
“We were fortunate enough to do well in that and that gave us a chance in the LV=Cup which we were able to win. It was a great year for me and I have very fond memories of that campaign.
“The LV=Cup gave me my first opportunity at senior level and it gave me my first opportunity to get used to how things operate. It was a great experience for me.”
When the Cup starts in two weeks’ time, Itoje is likely to be at Twickenham taking on South Africa for the first of the Red Rose’s four autumn Tests.
With a raft of injuries in the back row, there has been a suggestion Itoje could fill the gap at blindside, where he started in the 2015 Premiership final, but the young lock is not reading much into it, saying: “I’m not really concerned about the speculation, I’ve played a number of positions for Saracens as a youngster so I’ll play wherever the coaches pick me.
“South Africa are a very proud rugby nation and you notice that when you spend time with the South Africans in our squad at Saracens. They’re very passionate about their rugby and they care a lot. They’re very physical as well.”
“Losing to Quins wasn’t ideal but it was a good lesson for us and we’ve been better since”