From one England captain to another. Maro Itoje sent a long video message to Colin McFadyean on Tuesday. McFadyean knows what it is like to lead England against Wales, having done so in the 11-11 draw at Twickenham in January 1968, when he scored the last of his four tries for his country. The former Moseley centre and wing won 11 caps in total between 1966 and 1968, and toured with the British and Irish Lions to Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Now he spends his time in a Bristol retirement home care home called Badminton Place. When his family reached out to England ahead of McFadyean’s 82nd birthday on Tuesday, Itoje had no hesitation, recording the footage just the day after England’s victory over Italy last Sunday. For Itoje, the responsibilities of the England captaincy extend way beyond the 80 minutes, and that includes reconnecting with the past as well as engaging for the future.
The line of service runs not just from player to player. When Itoje took over the captaincy from Jamie George in January, one of his innovations was to establish a weekly presentation which he called ‘My Rose’. Every Wednesday night, a player and member of the backroom team is nominated to give a short talk about themselves to the group.
The aim is to tighten the bond as those nominated reveal their background stories, their heroes, their highlights and their hardships. The more you know your team-mate, the more you would go to battle for them. On Wednesday night, the day before the squad drove to Cardiff, they listened to the compelling contributions of George Ford and Andrew Strawbridge.
When it was Itoje’s turn a few weeks ago, he spoke about the importance of his family, an inspiration he highlighted after England’s triumph in the Calcutta Cup. “Part of what I love about rugby is to be able to share these moments with my friends, family and loved ones,” he told ITV Sport.
The connection with the past and the introduction of bonding sessions are just elements of his leadership that have been evolving impressively during the Six Nations to the point that a commanding display against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday could make him front-runner for the captaincy of the British and Irish Lions.
His first leadership moment came back in the pre-Six Nations training camp in Girona, when the 30-year-old gave a conditional pledge to his team-mates. He would give them everything he had, but in return he wanted more from them, individually and collectively, to bring to an end the run of narrow defeats against tier-one sides last year. He urged his team-mates to invest more in each other and their rugby, because they could not do what they had done last summer and last autumn and expect different results.
The closeness of his relationship with George was critical, and he would also lean heavily on the leadership skills of Ellis Genge, with the trio forming England’s senior leadership group that meets regularly with Borthwick.
Borthwick and Itoje also speak daily, with clear demarcation lines drawn so that the talks do not merge. They talk about what the pack needs from a set-piece perspective because he is the line-out leader. Then time on his game. How is it improving? Then leadership for the rest of the squad.
Itoje’s desire to increase the social cohesion of the group also involved empowerment. He wanted players to be themselves and trusted them to deliver what was required in terms of commitment and training and would only intervene if he felt those standards would not be met. One of those key developments was the integration of the younger players to the squad.
It would manifest itself this week when Henry Pollock, Northampton Saints’ precocious flanker, was named on the bench, having been fast-tracked from the England Under-20s. Coaches remarked how well Itoje had managed 20-year-old Pollock into the group and made sure he was in position to integrate easily and swiftly.
Itoje has always been a deep thinker. He has a politics degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and an MBA from Warwick Business School. When Steve Borthwick asked him to be captain, just five months after he was appointed as captain of his club Saracens, he gave considerable thought to what type of leader he would be. That included looking at the attributes of those leaders he admired, including Patrick Vieira, the former captain of his beloved Arsenal, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and Britain’s post-war Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
His view was that titles and positions were great, but leadership would be successful only if he was playing the best rugby he was capable of. If the captain is a liability, anything he says is irrelevant. That process began at Saracens and put him in good stead when the England call came.
His desire to be a demonstrative leader included improving his conditioning. His England data reveals he has become leaner, has improved all aspects of his speed, and consequently is even better placed to impact the game over 80 minutes. When Itoje first entered the international stage in 2016, he stood out as an athletic and physical defender. As he closes in on 100 caps, he is now an experienced line-out caller who has worked extremely hard with Strawbridge to improve his handling skills and distribution.
In the build-up to Ollie Sleightholme’s second try against Italy last Sunday, we saw him make a break and then go up and over the top with his offload to Ben Curry. He also delivered a short pass to put Genge into a gap.
">
But perhaps his biggest tests of his fledgling leadership have come in the stress points, starting with the defeat by Ireland in Dublin in the opening round. Itoje’s instinct was to address the issue immediately in the changing room afterwards in the Aviva Stadium.
He had been happy with how his side had started the game, taking the game to Ireland, only to lose control for 20 minutes. By the time England finished strongly, the game was gone. Itoje said the lesson was that England had to learn to become a team that when it puts their foot on the throat of an opponent, keeps it there for as long as possible. Not on and off, on and off. If they want to become a great team, they would have to keep it there.
When Scotland scored two tries in the first 20 minutes of the Calcutta Cup, England’s resilience once again was at stretching point. Yet Kevin Sinfield, England’s skills and kicking coach who also fulfils a mentoring role within the squad recalls being struck by Itoje’s complete calmness and clear messaging under the posts.
His exchanges with the referees have also challenged his leadership. As a player, Itoje is famed for living on the edge and at times vociferous outbursts when turnovers are won. But he quickly realised that to have an effective relationship with the match officials, he did not want to be the captain who is always badgering the referee. He would choose his moments, having decided that most referees find it annoying to face a constant noise.
Against Italy, when he dived over a collapsed maul with the ball to attempt to score a try, the England forwards were convinced that their maul had been illegally pulled down from both sides and expected a penalty try to be awarded and a yellow card to an Italian forward.
It was the same again when, with the score at 21-14 to England, Ellis Genge had his leg lifted by Tommaso Menoncello and fell into the ruck, leading to a penalty against him for sealing off. Paolo Garbisi landed the penalty, and England went into the interval just three points ahead, when they felt they should have been much further ahead. Itoje was frustrated, but he knew he had to stay calm as he was managing not just the referee but also the emotions of his team-mates.
Yet perhaps the defining moment came when, with Finn Russell preparing to take the potentially match-winning conversion for Scotland, Itoje chose his moment to approach referee Pierre Brousset. It was a moment when he felt he needed to be strong and make sure he was communicating firmly, accurately and with respect to the referee to query a point and make sure he was aware.
As an extension, his pre-match rallying calls as captain in the England dressing room are a break from the tradition. There are no chest-thumping orations from him. Whether he raises his voice is situation-dependent, but his default is to speak in normal tones rather than shout and scream, and certainly without any need to swear.
He is also happy to defer to George and Genge to get key messages across, with George’s leadership in the back end of the games when he comes off the bench offering critical support.
Itoje more than most knows the significance of the Six Nations finale against Wales, with England in contention for the title for the first time in five years, even if it is dependent on France slipping up. Another key moment awaits. With Andy Farrell considering his Lions selection, another commanding leadership performance could well put Itoje firmly in the mix.
