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Jones on why 'inward looking' Itoje isn't a future England skipper
By Liam Heagney
Eddie Jones has given a detailed insight into his thoughts on Maro Itoje, explaining why he doesn't believe the forward is England captaincy material and why they have sent him for acting lessons to help develop his leadership and communication skills.
With a successful Autumn Nations Series out of the way, the England coach's latest book, Leadership: Lessons from my life in rugby, is being serialised this week in The Telegraph.
The coverage has so far been compelling. There has been a section on why Jones made Marcus Smith write down answers to three questions as he felt the Harlequins youngster - last Saturday's 80th-minute match-winner versus the Springboks - was wasting his talent.
Owen Farrell has also featured, Jones explaining why he feels his England captain is developing well as a leader, while another extract from what sounds like an intriguing book (written in conjunction with Donald McRae) dwells on the acting lessons that Itoje has been having yet he won't be the England captain.
"There were lots of calls for him to be named as captain of the British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021," wrote Jones. "Alun Wyn Jones rightly got the job instead. That seemed sensible to me. I might be wrong, but I am not sure Maro is a future England captain. He is going to be one of the great players, but Maro is very inward looking.
"We have sent Maro to acting classes, which is having a beneficial effect. He speaks more influentially now, and I am hopeful he can develop more communication and leadership skills. Acting brings Maro out of himself. We don’t want to quench his inner drive, but we will have made huge progress if we can tap into it in different ways so that it transmits to his teammates.
"The acting classes are a practical step to helping Maro and others share that internal fire and magic which makes them special. We are always looking to see if we can develop these traits and find the right mix of leaders.
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Latest Comments
A Kiwi. I'm not one to blame a nations fans for 1 troll. Misty kiwis is actually great people I get along with great. Every town has its drunk and town idiot. I'll let you decide which one you are
Go to commentsIt's because in over 100 years of rugby, the NH has never been the top echelon of rugby. That stayed with the SH. They may have had some blips, but that's it. The ingrained jealousy and hatred is strong.
Always coming off 2nd best is a hard pill to swallow. Just as they think they finally took over, that the NH is the Kings of rugby, they found out the hard way that it was all just day dreaming.
9/10 WC trophies for the SH vs 1/10 for the SH. What makes it worse is that they SHOULD be on top considering how close and how many countries in Europe plays rugby. It's just across the road for them compared to the SH that have to travel very far to play against each other, nevermind the NH.
The logistics counts against the teams, which means teams have to leave earlier and stay longer in another country to acclimate. That means the cost for the Rugby Unions go up compared to the NH. Yet, they can't crack the SH. No matter how hard they try.
I'm not surprised they are so hateful and jealous towards the SH.
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