Itoje a fan of scary skip Owen
MARO ITOJE is ready to face Owen Farrell’s death stare as the Saracens pair bid to make history in South Africa – and reckons his new gaffer is better when he is captain.
England’s Saracens contingent flew to Springbok country yesterday ahead of the three-test series, buzzing after their club’s 27-10 win over Exeter last weekend.
Ferocious Farrell is captain on the trip – with regular skipper Dylan Hartley crocked – and faces down team-mates when they make an error.
The English champions have supplied 10 players to the 34-man squad and lock Itoje insists the Saracens buzz can lift Eddie Jones’s side into the record books.
England have not won a series in South Africa and the last time they won at Ellis Park, venue of next Saturday’s first Test in Johannesburg, was in 1972 and Farrell (right) is in the hot seat with Hartley out of the game.
Itoje says fly-half Farrell, rated the world’s best 10, is off the scale when he is skipper but he still dishes it out when the fur is flying.
Itoje said: “Owen plays better when he’s captain. He speaks well, but he speaks better as captain. I haven’t met many smarter rugby players than him. I know for a fact, having played under him before, that he is going to do very well in the role.
“He pushes the standards, which is probably why Eddie Jones has put him in that role.”
Farrell and Co have to reverse England’s desperate record in South Africa and get the ball rolling ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan following their Six Nations flop.
They are heading there on the back of defeats to Scotland, France and Ireland and Jones’s messiah-status, after leading them to 18 wins on the spin, is going down the pan.
But Itoje added: “We know we’re a good team, with very good coaches. I believe if we play our style of rugby to the best of our ability, then on our day most teams will struggle against us. That’s the mindset we will take out there as we look to leave our imprint on this tour.”