Itoje early favourite to lead Lions into battle
WARREN Gatland has delivered a strong hint that he is ready to turn to England colossus Maro Itoje as his Lions captain for next summer’s three-Test showdown with world champions South Africa.
Itoje, England team-mate Owen Farrell and Alun Wyn Jones, Gatland’s Grand Slam Wales skipper, are being touted as the leading three contenders for the tour.
The Lions have gone with locks in their previous four clashes with the Springboks – Willie John McBride, Bill Beaumont, Martin Johnson and Paul O’Connell –- and know they will need to fight fire with fire again in 2021.
And according to reports in different London-based newspapers, Gatland feels Itoje has the credentials required to lead his Lions into battle.
“He’s an intelligent player and an intelligent man and has been incredibly successful in his career,” Gatland told Rugby World.
“He would definitely be in contention as one of the possibilities as captain.
‘It’s about picking the squad and then saying who do we think will be captain material.
“Ideally, it’s somebody who has come from a team that’s been pretty successful.
“The next question is if we were picking the Test team today, is there a good chance this person would make that Test team?
‘ You look at that and go, well, there are some pretty good second rows around and he’s not bad. You have Courtney Lawes and George Kruis.
“How’s Alun Wyn Jones going at that time? There’s James Ryan. There’s no doubt about Itoje’s quality.”
The full interview with Warren Gatland in the 60th anniversary edition of Rugby World magazine, is on sale now.