Why Itoje must be the answer to leading question for Jones
IT is high time Maro Itoje took centre stage for England. Not as a player – he can do that with his eyes shut – but as captain. The red line through the name of Owen Farrell from this season’s Six Nations Championship is a setback for England. His influence on the side is so profound as its leader that a void has been left, but it is also an opportunity for others and first among them should be Itoje.
From his school days at Harrow, he has been groomed to step into this role. He led
England to the
Junior World Cup in 2014 and a year later, at 20, lifted the Anglowelsh Cup as
Saracens captain.
But Farrell’s presence at his club and, post-dylan Hartley, with England has kept Itoje among the foot soldiers.
There is no Farrell (below) now. Itoje has matured into a pivotal member of this England squad. He is the rallying point of the pack and a player opponents fear.
He is in his magnificent prime as an athlete, and has the experience of 51 England caps and two
Lions tours under his belt.
Off the field too he makes his presence felt.when chaos descended on last week’s
Brighton training camp, with a fire, a power cut and an evacuation from the England team hotel, it was Itoje who pulled the squad together, leading a session on team communication in the unusual surroundings of a Brighton pub.
At 27, logic says this is Itoje’s moment, yet there remains a reluctance in Eddie Jones to go there.
Jones has always rated Itoje as a player, despite the Vauxhall
Viva comparisons early on in his Test career, but as a leader he has harboured doubts from the start.
The FEC (Future England Captain) moniker appeared to rankle. In the book he wrote last year,
Jones dismissed Itoje as too inward-looking for the role.to commit those thoughts to print with his own pen was a strange piece of man-management, and within a matter of months he had U-turned and was saying Itoje might one day captain his country.
But his actions in the autumn indicated those doubts remain.
When Farrell was injured at the tail end of last year, Jones turned instead to Courtney Lawes to captain England. And when Lawes was substituted against South Africa with seven minutes left, it was Tom Curry rather than Itoje who took over the captaincy.
Jones has delayed his decision for this championship until Thursday, when he names his team for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match. He appears to be waiting on Lawes’ availability
as the
Northampton man completes his return to play protocols after concussion.
There is one major drawback with Lawes.the chances are he will not be on the field when the games are decided in this Six Nations.
Ideally, a team wants its captain to be in situ when the crucial decisions have to be made – not in the stands.
But at 32, Lawes is no longer an 80-minute player for England. It is two and a half years since he played a full Test – in a World Cup warm-up game againstwales.
YOU can take it as read Itoje will be there when the clock goes red at Murrayfield on Saturday – his value to England, and his extraordinary stamina and durability are such that he never comes off.
Yet with no Lawes around last week, it was Curry who was dispatched to the tournament launch as stand-in captain, which dropped a broad hint as to Itoje’s place in the hierarchy.
At 23, Curry could well be an FEC – he has time on his side – but it feels too early for him.
Perhaps Itoje’s relatively high profile counts against him. Jones is extremely wary of those, other than himself of course, who court fame and fortune, so few England players dare to put their head above the parapet.
Itoje is an exception, with his modelling for Ralph Lauren and M&S. Part of the Roc Nation management stable founded by Jay-z, he is seen and heard promoting everything from African art to the rollout of laptops to disadvantaged children to close the digital divide.
There has been no indication whatsoever that having interests outside of rugby has affected his form. Nor should they make him any less suitable as captaincy material. If he holds a wider world view than most sportsmen, that should be no barrier to promotion.
With no Farrell, England need a figurehead who can inspire after their desperate fifth-placed finish in the championship last season.
“A leader is a dealer in hope,” Napoleon once noted.
Itoje’s elevation to the rank of captain would bring exactly that – and let the rest know England mean business once again.*