Italy vs England Six Nations: Enter Maro Itoje, the new pearl of the pack

Rome is the suitably grand setting for the hugely talented, 21-year-old forward to make his international debut. Chris Hewett profiles ‘a future England captain’ who has drive, presence – and a love of writing poetry

Maro Itoje (GETTY IMAGES)

There are obvious differences between the fresh-faced, 21-year-old Maro Itoje – “the pearl”, as he is known in the red-rose squad he may soon come to dominate now he has made his Six Nations breakthrough – and the common herd of cauliflower-eared forwards of indeterminate age: for one thing, he studies politics as well as line-outs; for another, he writes poetry.

If it is stretching a point beyond the limits of elasticity to describe him as the Thomas Stearns Eliot of the pack, it is fair to suggest that when it comes to smashing seven bells out of all-comers at scrum, line-out, ruck and maul, he has a bit more going for him than the Old Possum of English letters, who never smashed anything more intimidating than a typewriter key. Eliot wrote The Waste Land. Itoje lays waste to his opponents.

“Right from the start he was a ruck-destroyer,” says Jon Callard, the former England full-back and current age-group coach who has worked closely with the most exciting back-five forward to emerge in this country since Simon Shaw first wedged himself into a pair of size 16 boots. “When the ball is on the floor in the modern game, there are arms and legs everywhere. Maro cuts through all that chaos. He takes charge of the situation by making a complete mess of the opposition.”

The son of Nigerian parents, Itoje was born in London, started playing rugby while studying at St George’s School in Harpenden and could be seen sharpening his skills and understanding at Saracens’ talent-spotting camps from the age of 14.

“I remember my first day very well,” he said recently. “I was a really nervous player and I was extremely nervous on that occasion. In fact, I was pretty nervous about everything back then, so going to train with the club’s elite player development group was a daunting thing. I remember the other players rocking up and thinking I was just a lanky 14-year-old in the background, trying to make his way. I suppose most new kids go through something similar.”

By the time he was 16 he had won himself a place at Harrow School, and he spent the rest of his teenage years announcing himself, quietly but authoritatively, as a Test forward in the making. While Callard was not the only coach aware of Itoje’s voice, he was among those in the happy position of hearing it at first hand.

“He came across immediately as an incredibly grounded individual with something more than a high work-rate,” he continues. “What he had above and beyond the vast majority of his peers was a real work ethic. Physically, he has this huge engine inside him; temperamentally, he has a calmness that allows him to make decisions on the run.

“To cut a long story short, he has presence – the kind of presence that makes me convinced that we have a great English rugby leader on our hands.

“One of the strengths of his personality is his range of interests: he’s a religious individual who also loves his politics – I’m told he once met Alastair Campbell [the intimidating enforcer at the heart of the New Labour project] and tied him in knots with his debating skills. He enjoys the occasional glass of red, too.

“But what impresses me in the rugby sense is his ability to pick up on the nuances of a game as it unfolds – to react to the changing dynamics. He just knows what to do. I saw that for myself when he came off the bench for the England Saxons in Ireland last year and finished the match head and shoulders above everyone else.”

Itoje has yet to play 40 senior professional games, but as the vast majority of those exposures have been crammed into the last calendar year, there is no reason to think he goes into tomorrow’s contest with Italy underbaked. Quite the opposite, in fact, for he is spending more time on his rugby than ever before. Having initially split his waking hours between playing for Saracens and working towards a degree in politics at the London School of Oriental and African Studies – recent specialist subject, British foreign-aid policy – he has now gone part-time on the university front.

According to Eddie Jones, whose determination not to involve Itoje in last weekend’s Calcutta Cup business at Murrayfield bordered on the uncharacteristically capricious, the youngster is currently a “Vauxhall Viva” of a forward with the potential to become “a BMW”. (Note the not-so-subtle reference to England’s current sponsors.) It makes you wonder whether Itoje will be introduced off the bench in Rome tomorrow, or emerge from the garage.

The fact of the matter is that Jones rates the newcomer every bit as highly as those who have been far more voluble in shouting the odds on the subject, for the head coach did not get where he is today by ignoring the blindingly obvious. However, he is still throwing his darts in an attempt to puncture the balloon.

Having described Itoje as “a young kid with a good head on his shoulders”, which may turn out to be Eddie-speak for “genius”, he was asked whether Alex Goode, one of only two backs on the bench for this game, was covering the centre positions as well as full-back and outside-half.

“No, that’ll be Maro,” he replied, grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. “Imagine that. He’s not the next Martin Johnson. He’s the next Jeremy Guscott!”