Maro Itoje on understated people skills that underpin his Lions captaincy

Times

4 days ago

In a parallel universe, under a different captaincy, you wonder how different this British & Irish Lions tour might have looked. It still seems likely that, had Caelan Doris, the Ireland captain, not been injured days before the tour squad was announced, then he would have got the job for the Lions too. Maybe we'll never know for sure.
And if these had been Caelan's Lions, and not Maro's, then the Test match results would probably look little different. Maro Itoje himself would probably have slipped selflessly into the role of leading footsoldier. The leadership dynamic would, of course, have felt different, not worse, though maybe it has helped a squad with a preponderance of Irishmen to have had a skipper from outside their group. Again, we can but guess; and Doris is a democrat, just as Itoje is.
Itoje doesn't crave the limelight. When offered the opportunity on Tuesday to bask in the glory of his success, he said: 'It's never been about me. It's never been about who the captain is.' And you could imagine those same words from Doris too.
What you probably wouldn't imagine from Doris is a similar answer to this question: from whom has come the coolest congratulations message you've had since winning the series on Saturday night?
When Itoje paused to ponder his answer, you were expecting a Mick Jagger, say, or a Daniel Craig. His answer, though, was David Lammy, and not only did he pick a politician, he said that the foreign secretary was someone 'I have a bit of a relationship with'.
Nevertheless, like Itoje, Doris is also cerebral. The son of two psychotherapists, how could he not be? Yet he probably wouldn't be quoting the Bible in his press conferences, like Itoje did here.
When Itoje was asked which he would treasure more from the tour, the people or the rugby, he quoted Mark 8:36. (Actually he very marginally misquoted him, but let's not split hairs.)
His line was: 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' And his explanation was what if 'we won every game and we absolutely hated one another … I think life is more than that'.
There is so much contained in that one answer. When Itoje was made the England captain, barely seven months ago, it seemed a big call from Steve Borthwick, the head coach, largely because Itoje would be replacing Jamie George, whose people skills were always so good. Itoje was always going to be a big leader from the front in the field of play, but lacked the same empathy. It wasn't that he was selfish, just that he was slightly more caught up in his own world.
That, at least, was how it had seemed, an impression that had been encouraged by Eddie Jones, the previous England coach. As it turned out, Borthwick judged perfectly Itoje's growth as a leader. These few weeks in Australia have only served to accelerate further his education as a captain and that is good for Itoje, good for Saracens and most certainly good for England.
It's a reasonable guess that where the experience here has improved him, in particular, is his people skills. When he talks about his team-mates, he can sound somewhat avuncular, as if he is the grown-up on the sideline, enjoying watching the kids have fun.
This is Itoje on Jamie Osborne, the Irish back nicknamed 'Showbiz': 'I have built relationships with people I really did not know well. Someone like Showbiz. I never thought I would have a relationship with him. I wouldn't mind the nickname Showbiz, if you want to start it … I know now whenever I play against him in the future I can call him Showbiz and he will have that little smirk on his face.'
Or Finlay Bealham: 'Another one — I never thought we would have a good relationship. But he's absolutely hilarious, funny; he's a very endearing person.'
Yet he has thought hard and intelligently about how these relationships should be conducted. 'What I've been conscious of,' he explained, 'is it's a higher level of player here. So you don't try to treat certain players of a certain level and calibre the same way that you would if it was a much younger or inexperienced group. They are the type of things I've thought about.'
He is also conscious of what he is as a captain and what he isn't. He knows that he isn't the Mr Motivator kind who can naturally bring his team-mates to an emotional peak, so the last changing-room address before heading on to the Test match pitch is one he has passed on to Ellis Genge.
'I didn't discuss it with Ellis beforehand,' he explained. 'I asked him to do it ahead of the first Test. My thing is it's about trying to get the best out of the group. Ellis is very emotional, he knows how to get himself going and get people around him going.
'I want to use the talents of the group. It's never been about me, about me having the final word or sticking my chest out as captain. It's about us getting to where we need to be. For Ellis, that's a role he's quite familiar and comfortable with. I guess it's a judgment call from myself of who would be best placed to have the final message before we go out. It need not always be the captain.'
He is aware himself that he's grown from the experience. 'You perhaps learn about the style of how I want to be and my approach to things,' was how he explained it. 'As always, when you start a new role, you have to work your way through a few things. As this tour has gone on, I've definitely felt more comfortable in the role.'
That is certainly how it has looked and you wonder if Itoje would have had this same development had he been given the role four years ago. Again, maybe he wasn't ready, even though he was considered a leading contender. That, at least, was the conclusion of Warren Gatland, who appointed Alun Wyn Jones instead.
'The answer is I don't know,' he said, 'because it's a hypothetical. I definitely feel like I was ready to do the job when I was asked to. I didn't feel like it was a step too far for me or it was going to be something I wasn't able to do.
'So I'd like to think I come back as a better player and part of that is hopefully being a better captain as well.'
Yes, Maro, it seems highly likely that you will.