'Your prime as a rugby player is now 25, 26': The Rugby Pod picks its 2021 Lions captain
The Rugby Pod believes that Maro Itoje is well-positioned to become captain of the Lions in 2021, continuing the tradition of the tourists appointing teak-tough second rows as their skippers whenever they tour South Africa.
Paul O’Connell, Martin Johnson, Bill Beaumont and Willie John McBride were all locks who respectively skippered the Lions on their 2009, 1997, 1980 and 1974 tours to the home of the Springboks – their last four visits there.
Now Jim Hamilton, a former colleague of Itoje at Saracens, believes the England engine room player is the perfect candidate to lead Warren Gatland’s squad next year even though there has been support elsewhere for rival Wales second row Alun Wyn Jones and current England skipper Owen Farrell.
On the latest edition of the chart-topping podcast, the identity of the next Lions skipper was raised by Hamilton’s co-presenter Andy Goode, the ex-English international, and it took a strong presentation by Hamilton to convince Goode that Itoje would be the best man to have in charge of the Lions.
“People are looking for things to talk about,” said Goode, broaching a topic that always get tongues wagging. “I know Martin Johnson mentioned it last week, they were talking about Lions captain and people have said Alun Wyn Jones, people have said Owen Farrell, people have said Maro Itoje all for various different reasons.
“My thing is, Maro Itoje has never captained a team to my knowledge at the top level. Jim, you have played with him, you know him particularly well, would he be suited to be a Lions captain?
“It’s easy to say that guy will be the most physical guy on the field because he will and that is a given, and he is a quality player. But captaincy is very different from being the guy that just goes around smashing people and being as effective as he is for Saracens and for England.”
Hamilton quickly responded, outlined numerous reasons why he feels the 25-year-old is ripe for the captaincy after 38 England caps and three for the Lions on their previous tour, the drawn 2017 Test series with New Zealand.
“You look at leadership and it’s very different now,” said the ex-Scotland international. “Everything is about leadership, right, and it looks different now in terms of professional sport. In our day you were in your prime in your 30s. You’re not now. Your prime as a rugby player is 25, 26.
“There are loads of different things that you look at. I don’t think Owen Farrell will suit as captain from a fly-half position. I’m still a bit old-school. Someone in the forwards should do that because they are closer to all the set-pieces, the breakdowns, the carrying, the tackling… a forward is more suited.
“We saw with Sam Warburton… I don’t think you need to be the very, very best player, I don’t think you need to be the most vocal player. I was chatting to Lawrence Dallaglio about that and you [Goode] will know more than anyone playing with Martin Johnson, it wasn’t what he said, it was when he spoke that really mattered. He wasn’t speaking the whole time.
“Someone like Maro leads by example but there is also a profile thing there, he is one of the most famous rugby players in the world but he also conducts himself in a really good manner, in a really positive way, the way that he trains, the way that he handles himself, the way that he speaks in the media.
“These are all plus things on top of the fact that he is a world-class player as well that would contribute to being a captain – and being a captain not for a season but for a Lions tour. I just think it would be quite a smart move. I’m not saying that because Maro is easy to market. He is one of the best players in the world, he leads by example, he knows he has got an opportunity. He captained the England U20s to a World Cup.
Geordan Murphy gives Maro Itoje a tongue-in-cheek mention in Leicester recruitment update https://t.co/PLa4GIqdO2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 30, 2020
“Saracens, he is in the leadership group there. He captained the A team there, captained the LV= team. He is a leader in that group, he’s respected. He is one of the players now where if he speaks people listen, but he also leads by example. He is one of the fittest, one of the strongest, so I like that idea. He will be captain.”
Hamilton’s opinions swayed the view of the sceptical Goode. “Hearing you speak like that, you give a great case for it. My concern with it is because he is that good of a player you don’t want the captaincy to take away from his ability as a player and how he conducts himself on the field of play – you sometimes start thinking about other things.
“For some people, it works wonderfully well. Dylan Hartley, before he got made England captain, would have been seen in some circles as a liability, the discipline issues and all that stuff. But when he got made England captain that was the making of him as an England player and he improved himself on the field because of that captaincy and hopefully if that (Lions captaincy) does happen to Maro that can be a positive thing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
75 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments