‘No wrinkles’: Maro Itoje raring to go for Lions after 2136-minute season

British & Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje joked about having “no wrinkles” after being asked about his workload during the 2024/25 season, with the second-rower clocking in with more than 2100 minutes before the tour of Australia.

Itoje started the season with a 74-minute shift away to Gloucester in the Premiership, featuring in four matches for Saracens before representing England in four Tests during the Autumn Nations Series – which included defeats to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Itoje ended up playing 2065 minutes this season before leading the Lions against Argentina in Dublin, with Los Pumas stunning the hosts 28-24. Coach Andy Farrell didn’t play Itoje against the Western Force in Perth, but the touring captain is back to face the Queensland Reds.

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After watching on from the stands as the Lions knocked over the Force 54-7 at Optus Stadium in Perth, Itoje has been named in the run-on side, joining England’s Ollie Cheesum to face the Reds at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.

“I feel good. I was actually thinking about this the other day, I felt refreshed coming into this environment,” Itoje, who has played 2136 minutes this season according to All.Rugby, told reporters on Monday.

“Often when you talk about game minutes and load, part of it the physical, but a lot of it is the mental load.

“Coming into this new environment, spending time with new players, get new systems, new coaches, it’s been really refreshing for me.

“In my career, I’ve had a lot of consistency with club and country, so just to have a different stimulus has been great.”

Itoje returns to lead a new-look Lions side, with coach Andy Farrell making 14 changes to the starting side that beat the Force. Scotland’s Finn Russell has been retained at fly-half, joining debutant Jamison Gibson-Park in the halves.

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Gibson-Park is one of three potential debutants in the Lions’ 23 – all three from Ireland – with Hugo Keenan also named in the starting side. Irish lock James Ryan is also in line to debut, having been named on the bench.

Jac Morgan, who is the last Welshman in the squad after Tomos Williams was ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury, has been picked at openside flanker. Tom Curry from England and Ireland’s Jack Conan round out the backrow.

In the backline, there’s a new-look midfield pairing for the Lions, with Ireland’s Bundee Ak linking up with Huw Jones out of Scotland. This side looks a fair bit different to the one that faced the Force, but it presents an exciting opportunity for those selected.

“Now this is the exciting part. This is the part that you want to be apart of. This is the part that as a team you get excited about,” Itoje explained.

“You get excited about the different combinations and playing with all these different and great players.”

This is the Lions’ second stop on their tour of Australia, set to face the NSW Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday before travelling to Canberra to play the ACT Brumbies. The touring side will also take on an AUNZ Invitational XV and a First Nations & Pasifika XV, as well as the three Tests.