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The marvellous Maro Itoje stat that speaks volumes
By Jon Newcombe
It’s a widely held view that Maro Itoje was chosen to captain England this year rather than Saracens teammate Jamie George because not only is the loose forward a quality player and leader, but he also he tends to be on the pitch when it matters most, in the dying throes of a game, whereas the hooker was quite often subbed off around the 50-minute mark.
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For an England team that loves to live on the edge and happens to be involved in tight scorelines, Itoje’s composure in the cauldron of battle is especially priceless.
You need a steady hand on the tiller and a cool head when your last 15 Tests against Guinness Six Nations and Rugby Championship sides have been decided by single-digit margins, and an average of just 3.5 points. Admittedly, England have come out on the wrong side of the ledger in the majority but under the captaincy of Itoje, they have won back-to-back games by a single point for the first time since just before World War Two.
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After a dip in form whilst he was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed medical problem a few years ago, Itoje has become indispensable to England, and it is no wonder Steve Borthwick refuses to sub him off.
Itoje, who has won 97 caps (91 for England and six for the Lions), has remarkably been on the field for the whole 80 minutes in each of England’s last 19 Tests (since the game v Samoa at the 2023 World Cup). That’s 1,520 minutes, a whole day’s worth and some, without missing a beat of a Test match. By hook but not by shepherd’s crook Itoje is there until the job is done.
Itoje has missed the odd Test due to being rested or injured but the last England game when he was replaced during a game was the second Test of the July 2022 series in Australia. To use Eddie Jones’ parlance, he is both a starter and a finisher.
Unsurprisingly, Itoje exceeded his 2,400-minute limit for game-time in a season in 2023/24, including a spell playing through a shoulder injury. Speaking to the media four months ago, he said his body felt battle-hardened but also recognised that he couldn’t carry on indefinitely as England’s ‘Mr 80-minute man’.
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“I actually feel that I was in a better position physically come the end of the season than I was earlier on,” he said.
“That being said, I don’t think it’s necessarily wise to be playing that amount of games every year. It is a bit of a difficult one and it does require management. No-one wants to miss any England games. You don’t want to miss big games for your club either, so it does require some working through.”
Still only 30, Itoje went past a couple of legends, in Lawrence Dallaglio and Rory Underwood, in terms of the number of appearances for England during the Autumn Nations Series, and is now level with another great, Jonny Wilkinson.
I think it speaks volumes about Borthwicks lack of confidence in England’s depth at lock!
Since the start of 2024, only Itoje, Chessum, and Martin have started at lock for England. There have been 4 bench appearances for Alex Coles, 4 for Nick Isiekwe, and 1 for Charlie Ewels, which gives a total of only 9 games out of 15 where England have featured another lock in the matchday 23.
I actually think England have decent depth at lock (Rus Tuima, Joe Owen, and Arthur Clark all look good to me!), but given (1) the need to manage Itoje’s game time, and (2) the fact that the 6-2 split generally works better with at least 1, and probably 2, locks on the bench, Borthwick really should start picking from that wider group of players.
Hopefully the summer tour will force Borthwick’s hand and give an opportunity to some of the up and comers.
He has to be managed properly at both club and country. He looked knackered in last year's Summer Series in NZ.
It was a massive shame they allowed him to go over the RFU limit on annual minutes.
If they’d stuck to the rules he’d have still been eligible to start one of the NZ tests, and to play the other off the bench. They’d have just needed to find someone else for the game vs Japan.