Maro Itoje: 'We need to do more'

Quietly spoken but commanding huge amounts of respect, the players and management inside the England team room at their training base in Girona were hanging on every word as Maro Itoje addressed the group for the first time since he was made captain.

In the first episode of the latest O2 Inside Line: This Rose series, England head coach Steve Borthwick invites Itoje to share his vision for a team that hopes to deliver England’s first Guinness Men’s Six Nations title since 2020.

After a disappointing set of Autumn Nations Series results, Itoje has stepped up to replace his Saracens teammate, Jamie George, and England’s new leader issued a rallying cry that was forceful in its message if not its delivery.

“It’s a huge honour to be standing here in front of you,” he says, having just become England’s 136th captain.

“One thing I promise you guys is that I will do everything in my power to help this team to be successful.

“For us to be successful, for us to be the team that we want to be, I think, I know we have to do more.

“We have to invest more into each other; we have to invest more into our relationships with one another; we have to invest more in our rugby because we can’t do what we’ve done in previous campaigns, we can’t do what we did in the Autumn, and we can’t do what we did in the summer and expect different results. It requires more.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

4

Draws

0

Wins

1

Average Points scored

30

18

First try wins

80%

Home team wins

80%

Itoje continues: “We have all invested to be here, we have all sacrificed a whole load of our lives, we have spent the majority of our rugby careers wanting to be in this room, wear the red rose, wear the white shirt. This is a finite time in our lives, to make the most of it we have to do more.

“We have a good team, we have good support, we have a good environment but to get us that little bit extra we’ll have to invest more.

“Let’s make sure we invest, let’s make sure we buy into it. Whether it is your first cap like Arthur (Clarke), or you’re a veteran like Fordy (George Ford), each and every one of us needs to do more.”

O2 Inside Line: This Rose takes you behind the scenes with the England team as they travel to Girona to prepare for the Guinness Men’s Six Nations. View now on the new RugbyPass App.