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Itoje not ready to captain Lions claims former Saracens coach

By Ian Cameron
England forward Maro Itoje. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

While he’s a big fan of the player, former Saracens coach Brendan Venter says he doesn’t believe Maro Itoje is ready to skipper the British and Irish Lions in their tour of South Africa next year.

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Itoje is being tipped by many to get the nod from Warren Gatland to lead the touring side, but Venter believes the highly-rated England lock is not ready for the role, despite being a star of the 2017 tour of New Zealand.

In an in-depth interview with Planet Rugby’s David Skipper, the former Springbok touched on the Lions captaincy, saying that while he thinks he has ‘immense potential’, the 2020 Itoje vintage was yet to mature.

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“Personally, I don’t think Maro is ready to be that leader yet.

“I think he has immense potential, he’s a good man.”

Itoje has made 119 club appearances since his debut appearance for Saracens back in 2014 and started in all three Lions Tests against the All Blacks three years ago, but Venter believes the 25-year-old is best suited contributing to the team in other ways.

“He has good values but I think it will be difficult for him, and Maro’s way is contributing to a team in so many other ways. If you take a young man and expect him to be a leader of the British and Irish Lions, I’m not sure if that makes sense.

“But, you never know. He has another year to develop and you never know what will happen during that period.”

Venter seems to favour England captain Owen Farrell as captain.

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“Owen has been so successful – for Saracens and England – and he did well in New Zealand as well with the British and Irish Lions (in 2017). Also, because he is so experienced, I think someone like Owen would be a good choice in the end but, if Warren Gatland decides to go with a majority of players from Wales, it could be someone else as captain.”

Gatland has already hinted that Itoje is leading the race for the coveted role. “Itoje is the name that keeps cropping up,” said in a Rugby World interview in June.

“He’s an intelligent player and an intelligent man and has been incredibly successful in his career,’ said Gatland. ‘He would definitely be in contention as one of the possibilities as captain.

‘It’s about picking the squad and then saying who do we think will be captain material. Ideally, it’s somebody who has come from a team that’s been pretty successful. The next question is if we were picking the Test team now, is there a good chance this person would make that Test team?’

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‘Itoje is the name that keeps cropping up,’ said Gatland. ‘You look at that and go, well, there are some pretty good second rows around and he’s not bad. You have Courtney Lawes and George Kruis.

‘How’s Alun Wyn Jones going at that time? There’s James Ryan. There’s no doubt about Itoje’s quality.’

 

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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