Maro Itoje: 'It was all part of the master plan'

Maro Itoje has set his sights on another Heineken Cup and Premiership double after helping Saracens outmuscle Leinster to become European Champions at St James’ Park.

Itoje was yellow carded and saw Leinster move into a 10-0 lead but insisted his 10 minutes off the pitch was “ all part of the master plan” which includes registering another league and cup double before he heads off to Japan to try and help England win the World Cup.

Itoje told RugbyPass: “Normally we say take it game by game and all that stuff but to be honest we have a high quality team that is good enough to do the double. We should go and do it.”

The England lock was a towering presence throughout a match that saw Saracens deliver one of their most outstanding defensive performances, although losing Itoje was a blow.

However, Itoje said: “It was all part of the master plan and the ten minutes I spent off the pitch was the start of us playing well.

"The guys really picked it up in that period and I must have been holding them back! In all seriousness, it was a very special game and we spoke in the week about not taking these games for granted even though we have been here a few times because these are moments in your life that you don’t get back. I am so proud to be part of this squad and we managed to get the business done.

“Leinster are the best club team I have played against for a very long time. Everything they do is joined up and their detail is spot on. We had to be special although we probably didn’t play as well as we would have liked at the start of the game. We showed loads of character and loads of resolve to get it done.”