Why Maro Itoje is the ultimate team man: How being schooled at Harrow made England’s new captain a fantastic public speaker – and what he’s doing to build a ‘tighter’ group

It says a lot about Maro Itoje’s religious faith that, after being awarded the England captaincy, his church pastor was one of only six people with whom he initially shared the secret.

The 30-year-old lock confided in his mum and dad — who were back in Nigeria at the time, along with his brother and sister, and his fiancee, the artist and model Mimi Fall. He was worried about the news getting out prematurely, but felt he could trust the pastor. ‘He can’t leak that,’ said Itoje. ‘It would have been against pastor-congregant confidentiality!’

England fans will hope that, starting on against Ireland on Saturday, the national team’s new figurehead can help to generate some divine inspiration. His beliefs will guide him as he takes on Test leadership for the first time.

Speaking about the importance of Christianity to him, Itoje has said: ‘I feel as if everything I have, everything I’ve been given and the position I am in, is as a result of God. It’s about giving all the praise and glory back to him.’

The new captain is a mould-breaker. Itoje has long been nicknamed the Pearl by his team-mates and he has embraced the moniker. When he is not playing and training, he wears a pearl earring. And in a quest to honour his heritage by promoting improved education in Nigeria, he set up the Pearl Fund, with the motto: ‘Creating lasting change.’

In a sporting sense, that is now his mission, too. As he prepared for the Championship opener which will launch his captaincy, Itoje spoke about his leadership role models. ‘I’m a big basketball fan and especially the older generation, so I look at the way people like Magic Johnson went about their business,’ he said. ‘The obvious ones were people like MJ (Michael Jordan) and Kobe (Bryant), but also others like Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigerian-American NBA player).

‘In a UK context, I was a big Arsenal fan and Patrick Vieira had a massive presence. English wasn’t his first language, but just from his stature, his physique and the way he walked around the place, he exuded confidence.’

Itoje will take inspiration from those outside rugby and sport, too. After being installed as Saracens captain, he said: ‘I studied politics at university and one of my heroes is Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana.’

Almost a decade after emerging as a prodigious talent who quickly acquired an FEC (Future England Captain) tag, Itoje is now urgently striving to make his mark in the role. He has already implemented a new initiative behind the scenes, by asking one player and member of staff each week to make a presentation to the squad under the title ‘My Rose’.

The intention is to ‘become tighter as a group’, by telling their stories and explaining what makes them tick. When vice-captain Ellis Genge took a turn, he included a picture of the 2020 England squad with the Six Nations trophy and spelt out to the class of 2025 that it was high time to repeat that feat. Rookie Sale prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is another who has made a presentation already.

Earlier this week, Itoje exchanged texts with his predecessor as captain, Jamie George — who made contact to ask how he is doing. While the hooker is in rehab mode after suffering a calf injury, his replacement is busy setting the tone in camp. On Friday, Itoje was first out of the tunnel at the Aviva Stadium, as England went through their eve-of-Test ‘captain’s run’ training session.

After a quick word with Steve Borthwick, the head coach, he spoke in a team huddle, in front of watching cameras. This time, there was just one huddle, rather than three in different parts of the field, as there was with George; a subtle alteration.

Itoje has always been a standard-bearer and standard-setter, with deeds and words, even before making his breakthrough into senior rugby.

Back in 2014, he led England’s Under 20 side to junior World Cup glory in New Zealand. One of his team-mates back then was Ross Moriarty, who went on to represent Wales and the Lions.

Moriarty told Mail Sport: ‘In every training session, Maro wanted to be at the front — with his conditioning and in the weights room. He was ridiculously strong and he always pushed himself 110 per cent. That’s what made him a good leader, at that age especially; the work ethic that he had.

‘The Under 20s with England was a very professional environment, but Maro was with Saracens, so he was at an elite level — up there with any club in the world — and that definitely helped. It meant he had a lot of big players around him. That helped his development and his leadership skills.’

So, in those days, did he lead by example or with stirring calls to arms? ‘It was bit of both,’ said Moriarty. ‘He was a very good speaker. He had a good education at Harrow, which helped! Then there was his work ethic in the matches. It wasn’t just talking with him; it was doing as well.

‘He was a good mix, as someone who was a good motivational speaker but also led by example on the pitch. He was always level-headed and brought a real calmness to the group. It had a good influence on players who weren’t used to high-pressure games at that stage.’

Moriarty is now playing alongside a recent former England captain, Courtney Lawes, at Brive in France’s second division. Moriarty suggests that Itoje should be given a proper chance to establish himself, even if the team struggle in the weeks ahead.

‘I know England are under pressure to achieve big things in this tournament, from talking to other players,’ he said. ‘But there are still a few years until the next World Cup and Maro would be a very good option to carry on as captain through to that.’

Having been burdened with the FEC hype from a young age, Itoje’s leadership progress has been slower than expected. For club and country, he has been a senior, decision-making figure, but there was no armband to reinforce his status until last summer, when Mark McCall decided to install him as captain at Saracens. At the start of a season which culminates in a Lions tour to Australia, it was a big step and Itoje has handled it impressively.

Years on from that Under 20s experience, ex-England full back Alex Goode reflects on how his club-mate has evolved his repertoire of leading by deed and word. ‘First and foremost, it hasn’t affected Maro’s performances at all,’ Goode told Mail Sport. ‘Sometimes, the captaincy can affect people’s performances, but he’s been a standout player for us — leading from the front.

‘He really wants to bring the best out of everyone. He’s not a massive talker, but he commands huge respect when he does speak.

‘Saracens have a younger team now and he’s really leading the young group, wanting them to blossom and get the best out of them. I’m sure he’ll be doing that with the new guys in that England environment, too.

‘He’s tough on the group more than on individuals, which is good. He demands we work hard as a group and that we are physical. He really pushes the fundamentals. If it’s not there, he’s happy to say so and on a couple of occasions he’s had to do that.

‘Particularly with the younger guys, he tries to chat to them individually and make them feel as comfortable as possible. There will be little chats over a coffee and he wants to get to know everyone; give them his backing.

‘But it’s not just how he deals with young guys. Look at someone like myself; an old-age pensioner now. He still says to me, ‘I can’t wait to have you back’ or, ‘What you say is so important’. It makes me feel like I’m valued still, which is nice.’

Back in 2022, Eddie Jones — while still England’s head coach — caused a major stir when he claimed that Itoje was too ‘inward-looking’ to be an effective Test captain. The player himself has recently, diplomatically suggested that the Australian ‘reached the wrong conclusion’ about him, but Goode offers a more frank verdict.

‘Eddie got that very wrong,’ he said. ‘Maro would never be anything other than an ultimate team man. There’s nothing about his game that says he is only thinking about himself. I think Eddie just chucked that comment out there as a bit of a grenade, people latched on to it but there was no substance to it.’

One crucial factor for any captain in the modern game is the way they interact with referees and develop a positive rapport with them. For England, Itoje’s ability to stay on the right side of officials may make the difference between winning and losing tight Tests. Goode is confident that can be one of his trump cards.

‘Maro is very softly spoken with the ref,’ he said. ‘He will listen, take it on board and maybe bring up the odd point. He’s not someone who gets red mist — he doesn’t get angry, openly — so he has a nice way of speaking to refs. He’s never argumentative, which helps.

‘He has a lot of humility about him. He’s a very polite, well-mannered, well-brought-up young man, and those manners will stand him in good stead. He’ll be like that with everyone; the referees, his team-mates, the kit man — everyone. He is humble, but he’s a superstar at the same time.’

Now, on the grand stage, the superstar’s day of destiny has arrived. This is Itoje’s moment in the glare of national attention. But it is not just a momentous occasion for England and English rugby — there will be significance further afield, in Nigeria and across Africa.

Herbert Mensah, the president of Rugby Africa, told Mail Sport: ‘Maro is who we look for every time England play. As a Nigerian, he represents a part of the world which is rich in talent. When we’re looking at global heroes, surely he is at the top of the list.

‘For him now to be captaining England, it’s a source of inspiration. I often refer to Itoje when I try to explain that we come from a continent of 1.4billion people who are natural athletes and that if we had the investment that other places have, we would surely produce the best rugby. What talent there is in Africa. Maro Itoje represents that. He is Nigerian, but we all claim him.’

Back to Dublin. It is nearly show-time. England are ready to get down to business and Itoje arrived in the Irish capital with his game face on.

When he spoke about this marquee fixture against the title-holding Irish, there were shades of Tokyo 2019 in his expressions and his conviction. That was when Itoje warned the All Blacks that England were ready to lower their colours and the World Cup semi-final panned out exactly as he had forecast.

When Borthwick introduced him to the rest of the England squad as their new captain, Itoje thanked his team-mates for the warm applause which followed. Then, in soft tones with firm intent, he urged them to commit more to the cause, to change the narrative, after a 2024 return of just five wins from 12 Tests.

For all his manners and humility, there is defiance in him, too. ‘When people write you off, it always gets the juices flowing,’ said the skipper. ‘Whether it’s in sport, or when my teachers predicted me to get lower grades than I eventually got. It always gives you a little bit of extra motivation and, I guess, a bit more anticipation for what you can do and what you can achieve.’

England are being written off. Opta’s ‘super-computer’ gave them a two per cent chance of winning the Six Nations title. When that was raised with him, Itoje said: ‘Ha, that’s funny.’ He proceeded to talk his side up and notably refused to laud the hosts as the greatest things since sliced bread. Good. There was a resolute look on his face and not the slightest shred of apprehension.

For now, the English rugby public will remain wary, even if they so desperately want to believe the captain’s upbeat outlook. Key men are missing on Saturday and the Irish team, built around a formidable Leinster core, should be more fluent from the off.

There are doubts about the visitors’ ability to punch over the gainline and they are bound to be targeted at the line-out. Borthwick has retained the same midfield combination which didn’t ignite in the autumn.

But if they click, England have firepower on the bench to stage a late surge. All logic points to the visitors suffering a round-one loss for the fifth time in six years, but perhaps the new captain’s faith and hope will be justified.

Sir Clive Woodward’s three key clashes

Sam Prendergast v Marcus Smith

Two brilliant young fly-halves. Prendergast came from nowhere to steal the Ireland No 10 shirt from Jack Crowley in the autumn. What’s fascinating about his battle with Marcus Smith is that they are two playmakers with a real running threat. You don’t see that often these days. If you give either of them even half a yard of space, they will make the most of it.

Smith will have to be perfect from the tee if England are to stand a chance. I think it’s right he’s kept his place for the Six Nations and not been moved to full back. A repeat of Smith’s late drop goal that sealed victory over Ireland last year would do nicely!

Garry Ringrose v Ollie Lawrence

Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade are fine players, but for some reason their partnership hasn’t quite been working. The centre pairing has been holding England back but it will have to fire in Dublin if England are to have any chance of starting the Six Nations with a win. 

Lawrence possesses everything you want in a midfielder — pace, power and great ball skills. He impressed on his last visit to the Aviva Stadium in the Champions Cup with Bath against many of the players he will face today so that should give him plenty of confidence. Ringrose played on the wing for Leinster in their 47-21 win that day so didn’t go up against Lawrence directly, but he’s a very experienced centre who takes some stopping.

Josh van der Flier v Ben Curry

It’s a fantastic story that Ben and Tom Curry are the first twin brothers to play for England. Their selection on either flank is a bold move by Steve Borthwick but suggests England will look to play a quick game — which I’ve long advocated for — and compete hard for possession at the breakdown because both siblings are natural opensides. Tom is experienced internationally, so we know what to expect from him. Ben only has six caps, so this will be his biggest test yet.

Time will tell if playing the Curry twins hinders England at the line-out, but you can bet your bottom dollar Ireland will look to exploit their opposition’s lack of jumpers.