Hungry Itoje Saracens aim for double double in Twickenham clash
Flanker in peak shape for club’s double attempt Barritt fit after injury to lead side against Exeter
‘We relish the physical battle. You cannot win a game of rugby without getting on top’
There is nothing stale about Saracens’ Maro Itoje, not a scintilla of weariness at the end of a long season, just a sense of energy for what director of rugby Mark Mccall calls “a fresh challenge”, as the club go for a double Europe-premiership double at Twickenham.
By far the most forbidding aspect for Exeter Chiefs fans as they consider how their team might overcome the odds to dethrone the defending champions is that Saracens show no signs of being sated by their achievements in this their fifth final in six years. They are as hungry as ever for more success with Itoje himself declaring himself to be “in the best condition” he has been in all season.
For Itoje, read Saracens: on song, on message and boosted by news that their captain, centre Brad Barritt, is fit to start despite forecasts that he would be ruled out with the hamstring problem that forced him off in the semi-finals. Bionic Brad sets the tone for another Saracens’ lunge for glory. The making of special memories is what causes them to rise from the treatment table, desperate not to miss out.
Saracens have become masters of peaking for moments such as these. Mccall speaks of having detected “real growth” in his side over the past couple of months, an ability to reach deep within themselves to deal with whatever comes their way, as they showed when overcoming various in-match challenges to win the Champions Cup three weeks ago. Glasgow Warriors, Munster, Leinster – all three knockout opponents had to bend the knee to the will as much as the physical power of the opposition.
Itoje was partially responsible for one of those tests of their mettle when being sent to the sin-bin just before half-time in the Champions Cup final against Leinster at St James’ Park. Saracens were under siege, Itoje had little option to transgress and found himself trudging to the touchline at the same time as his two injured team-mates, Mako Vunipola and Titi Lamositele. Other teams might have cracked, never mind creaked, at that point. Instead, Saracens grew stronger, Itoje returning to play a typically forthright part in the 20-10 victory.
“We have grown tremendously in terms of character, resilience and how we want to play,” said Itoje, noting how much better the team are than when well beaten by Exe
ter at Sandy Park in December. “It will be a very different game to then. We are certainly in good physical condition now.”
That ever-deepening self-belief is at the heart of Saracens and of Itoje himself. The 24-year-old was a standout performer from an early age yet there is no sense of self-satisfaction, only a desire to impose himself on the opposition from first whistle to last.
There are those who take exception to Itoje’s in-your-face jostling and gesturing yet no one ever had cause to pass adverse comment on a Martin Johnson or Lawrence Dallaglio when they looked to unsettle opponents by their unremitting physicality. For Itoje, that confrontation is the heart of the contest.
“We relish the physical battle,” said Itoje. “I don’t think anyone can win a game of rugby without getting on top. It is a game of collisions and being physical is one of the best indicators of winning or losing. My game is all about effort and is built around work rate. It is based around the basics and doing that over and over again, striving to be relentless with it. From a physical point of view I feel good and that is allowing me to perform better. This is the best condition I have been in throughout the season.”
It is a mark of Saracens’ prowess that Itoje is just one of several highend performers in the side, from rear-gunner Alex Goode through to pin-pointer kickers such as halfbacks Owen Farrell and Ben Spencer, and on into the forward pack.
Itoje is not alone in thriving; so have others around him, particularly his big-framed colleagues, second-rows George Kruis and Will Skelton. Such has been their prominence, particularly in the case of Skelton, that Itoje has been shifted to the back row to accommodate the Wallaby who could soon be returning to the Australian
fold.
“We all have different skills-sets and complement each other,” said Itoje. “Will is in truly great form, attracting defenders and creating space for others. He has had a huge impact, working incredibly hard to shift some weight [3st 4lb] and has turned into an absolute monster.”
Itoje has become a multilayered presence on and off the field. Rugby, though, is front and centre of his life with his sights set on the immediate task of subduing the fierce challenge of Exeter Chiefs and on then towards the World Cup.
Itoje has more open-field involvements than before, throwing a delayed dummy pass to set up Spencer in last week’s semi-final against Gloucester that any centre three-quarter would have been proud of. Today he will focus on another all-consuming performance.
“There are always nerves, a bit of anxiety,” said Itoje. “I control my emotions a lot better now than I did when I first started. You build emotionally through the week. Physicality is about mentality. It goes hand-in-hand with your emotional state of mind. It is all about desire. If you want to be physical, you will be. If you don’t, it will show. I’m serious and ready to go.” As are all those around him, Barritt included.