1
Video: What Itoje said in beaten England Murrayfield changing room
The latest episode in the weekly RFU video series on the England team has revealed that Maro Itoje was the player who rallied his disappointed teammates after they had returned to their dressing room seats following last Saturday’s loss to Scotland in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations.
ADVERTISEMENT
England had somehow conspired to allow a 17-10 lead end in a 20-17 defeat following a dramatic closing 15 minutes at Murrayfield where they lost their focus and made a series of game-losing errors.
Those mistakes included a yellow card, the concession of a penalty try, a general level of disquiet over the use of their replacements, and the spurning of a long-range penalty kick at the posts in favour of a tactical kick down the line where they lost the resulting lineout.
Their immediate reaction following the dramatic loss was captured on video by the O2 Inside Line | The Next Level documentary series, the RFU-sanctioned production that has been providing a spy-on-the-wall type insight to Jones’ squad.
Seated in the dressing room in the position allocated to the England No4 with Nick Isiekwe sitting to his left in the No5 spot and coach Jones to his right standing underneath a television in the corner, Itoje told his teammates how they needed to react as their championship title hopes were far from over.
"We'll use this game to get tighter." ?
Maro in the changing room on moving on from Scotland and focusing on the rest of the @SixNationsRugby.@O2 | #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/hqglOScuhh
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 8, 2022
“What matters is what is in this circle,” began Itoje, a player who last year was tipped as Lions captaincy material but that honour went to Alun Wyn Jones while Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry have recently skippered England in the absence of the injured Owen Farrell. “What matters is what is in this circle, fellas, so how we react, how we stick together, how we react, how we stick together.
“This tournament, we have been here before, we have lost the first game, we bounced straight back and had a good tournament thereafter. So obviously we are disappointed. Obviously, we are sad that we lost but this tournament, it depends how we react. And how we react is we stick together and we get tighter. We use this game to get tighter.”
ADVERTISEMENT
England fell to a fifth-place finish last year after they lost their opening match to Scotland, losing three of their five matches across the campaign, but they bounced back from a first-round loss to France in 2020 to lift the title on points difference from the French.
All the leadership talk by Jones in recent weeks in the absence of Farrell and Lawes has centred on stand-in skipper Curry and the support of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and Henry Slade.
Itoje, though, was given kudos by Jones in midweek as England began preparation for their round two match away to Italy next Sunday. “Maro has got a massive role in the team,” insisted the head coach. “He is in charge of the team communication which is a session of the week where the players get together and talk about how they want to be for the week.
“It’s an important session done with our sports psychologist and he also runs the lineout so he has got two big portfolios. In terms of his own performance (against Scotland), he has played better games but he is not far away from being at his best.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments