‘ Hakuna matata...’ England’s Itoje feeling relaxed about what his future holds
Maro Itoje is rarely secondbest on the field and now the formidable lock forward has delivered a twist on the cliché of sportspeople concentrating solely on matters within their control.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever watched Lion King,” Itoje said on the eve of playing in England’s pivotal Autumn Nations Cup international with Ireland at Twickenham, while his club Saracens are stuck in limbo awaiting a fixture list for their new life in the second division, “but Timon and Puma had a saying called ‘ hakuna matata’ and it means ‘ no worries’.
"I feel with this type of thing, where you have no control over the outcome, you have no control over the planning process, you should try to let it figure itself out and not lose any sleep worrying or being anxious about x, y or z.”
A few days ago, Itoje was watching a TV broadcaster’s Twitter preview of the new club season, when he saw a display of Premiership jerseys and wondered momentarily where Saracens’ was, before he remembered his side’s relegation for salary- cap infractions.
“I forgot that we were down!” he said, and having admitted “it’s a little bit weird” not to know when Sarries’ next league match is, due to the suspension of the second- tier Championship forced by Covid- 19, he said his club is busy
training with a “presumptive date in January” and he was “at peace” because “in the long run everything always tends to work out well.”
For Itoje, the long run could include a second tour with the British & Irish Lions, to South Africa next summer, and fair play to him if his Lion King reference was a fun dig at the media speculation over whether he will be captain,
or will it be James Ryan – the 24- year- old lock who skippers Ireland today - or Alun Wyn Jones or Owen Farrell or Stuart Hogg or some other worthy candidate. Alternatively, it was coincidence or maybe even subliminal - could Itoje be privately so obsessed with the Lions that they infiltrate his every cultural reference?
Whatever t he case, Ryan and Ireland have plent y of
motivation today, and not just because the victors will be favourites to win Group A of the Autumn Nations Cup and contest the final in two weeks’ time.
The last- round venues are known already, with Ireland playing at the Aviva Stadium on 5 December, and England at Twickenham the following day. As England’s head coach Eddie Jones put it: “You’re in
the main game or in the under10s kick- off, so you want to be in the main game.”
The Irish rugby press is currently shot through with a hangdog conviction that England have worked Ireland out in the past t wo years, with three wins in three meetings at an aggregate scoreline of 113- 47.
The theory extends to Saracens’ domination of Leinster
i n t he 2019 European Cup final and 2020 quarter- final – remembering that Saracens provide six of England’s starting team, and Leinster have nine in the Ireland XV, including the front row.
It is incumbent on Andy Farrell since his promotion as Ireland’s head coach after the last World Cup to come up with some answers. Starting today at Twickenham.