At their glamorous wedding in Covent Garden last August, Maro Itoje and his partner, Mimi, were showered with dollar bills as they walked down the aisle.
‘Maro walked through about five times in five different outfits,’ recalls his Saracens and England team-mate Nick Isiekwe. ‘It was absolutely incredible. Nigerian food, Nigerian clothing.’
The likes of Marcus Smith, Jamie George and Ben Earl wore traditional Urhobo dress to reflect Itoje’s family tribe.
‘Seeing all the guys from different cultures under one roof was really special,’ adds Isiekwe. ‘That summed up Maro. Extravagant. Good vibes. The parties he throws are big. The way he plays is big.’
And England’s captain will hit a big milestone against Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday, becoming the ninth man to win 100 caps. But those who have been to his annual ‘ItojeFest’ house party in north London attest that he will not be toasting his century with a pint of lager in the players’ lounge.
‘He’s never been a beer drinker,’ says Isiekwe. ‘Dark spirits are more his thing. Even if it’s his 100th cap, he will stick to his principles on that! The way’s he’s turned up over such a long period of time is greatness. Let’s call it how it is. I get goosebumps knowing that he’s my team-mate and my friend. I hope he knows how proud we are.’
Maro Itoje will become the ninth Englishman to win 100 caps for his country on Saturday against Ireland
Itoje at his wedding to Mimi (left) – when his England and Saracens team-mates such as Ben Earl (right) wore traditional Urhobo dress to reflect Itoje’s family tribe
| Player | Caps |
|---|---|
| 1. Ben Youngs | 127 (2010-23) |
| 2. Dan Cole | 118 (2010-24) |
| 3. Jason Leonard | 114 (1990-2003) |
| 4. Owen Farrell | 112 (2012-23) |
| 5. George Ford | 107 (2014-present) |
| = Jamie George | 107 (2015-present) |
| 7. Courtney Lawes | 105 (2009-23) |
| 8. Danny Care | 101 (2008-24) |
| 9. MARO ITOJE | 99 (2016-present) |
Such tributes will arrive thick and fast over the next few days. Over the past decade, Itoje has been the face of English rugby. Martin Johnson would not be seen wearing Itoje’s lustre pearl earrings yet the two stand on a similar pedestal of power.
No player has won more turnovers than Itoje in the history of the Six Nations, nor have they been courted for cover shoots by Tatler and Hello! magazines.
‘In a world of ruthless aggression, Maro’s someone who takes time to think about things,’ says his ex-England and Saracens team-mate Alex Goode, who first played alongside Itoje when he was finishing his A-Levels at Harrow School.
‘He’s very unassuming, which is maybe surprising when you see him on the front cover of Vanity Fair. He was one of the first in this new breed of players who are quite out there. He wrote poetry, did big photoshoots, met politicians. Alastair Campbell will come out and say they’re good mates and Maro will just smile and shrug it off.
‘Everyone likes him because he’s got a lovely way about him and he cares about people. He’s very family orientated. After a win, he’s more likely to go home to his family than head to the pub, but he understands the nature of the team. He’s not the joker in the pack, he’s not leading the social, he’s not delivering state of the nation speeches… but you know he’s going to perform.’
Itoje is not cut from the cloth of a traditional rugby player. He is equally comfortable wearing a double-breasted Dior suit as he is in England’s Castore tracksuits.
He dresses stylishly, speaks softly and plays with swagger. In the early days of his Test career, Eddie Jones struggled to bond with the unique youngster who burst onto the scene with regal reviews.
‘Maro came off the bench against Italy for his debut and you could see straight away that he was made for it,’ recalls Jones. ‘Competitive, hard, loved the atmosphere, loved the importance. When he first came through, he was by far the most competitive tight-five forward in the world. His energy was unbelievable.
Being congratulated by Eddie Jones after winning his first England cap in 2016, a 40-9 win in Rome that kickstarted the Grand Slam-winning campaign
Itoje in his Harrow School days, when he was already breaking into the Saracens first team
‘He’s not the joker in the pack, he’s not leading the social, he’s not delivering state of the nation speeches… but you know he’s going to perform’
‘I found Maro quite difficult to connect with and when I look back, I realise I had the wrong approach. When I commented on his game, I never felt we connected very well.
‘He was an intelligent young man and it was only towards the latter years that I came up with a different approach. I would send him the information, ask him to have a look at it and come back to me. After that we had a much better connection.’
High-octane, 80-minute performances have become routine for Itoje. Expectations have been universally high and Jones compared him to a Vauxhall Viva in the early days to dull the hype. Everyone knew he was a Rolls-Royce in the making but Jones swam against the tide, questioning his credentials as a potential England captain.
‘What I said may have been right or it may not have been right but I don’t regret saying it one iota,’ Jones says now. ‘There’s a difference between just getting the captaincy because you’re the best player and actually being the captain.
‘He’s got it at a time when he’s a really mature Test player who can give a lot back to the team. The timing of him being captain now is absolutely spot on. He deserves it and he’s up there with the legends of English rugby.’
Itoje’s soft skills are underpinned with steel on the pitch. He has two metal plates in his jaw but his body has shown remarkable durability. Until this year’s Six Nations, he had played every minute of every England Test since 2020.
Some believe he should have taken a sabbatical to allow him time to rest, especially after he exceeded the World Rugby welfare guidelines by playing more than 30 times last season. His fellow forwards eulogise on how vocal he is on the pitch, while the backs live in fear of being whacked by one of his giant limbs.
‘Maro’s blessed with an abnormal power,’ says Goode. ‘I remember his first session in the gym at Saracens in 2014. He was trying to work out his one rep max on chin-ups. He’d never really done it and he didn’t know his own strength. He just kept going up – 20kg, 30kg, 40kg, 50kg. He went up to 75kg and I couldn’t believe it.
Itoje’s soft skills are underpinned with steel on the pitch. He has two metal plates in his jaw but his body has shown remarkable durability
His fellow forwards eulogise on how vocal he is on the pitch, while the backs live in fear of being whacked by one of his giant limbs
High-octane, 80-minute performances have become routine for Itoje. Expectations have been universally high and Jones compared him to a Vauxhall Viva in the early days to dull the hype
‘One of his biggest strengths is his arm strength and his wingspan. How many times have you seen him strip a ball, knock it out of someone’s hand or make a tackle with one arm?
‘He just hits you with these arms. They are so strong, like a basketballer. I remember training on the 2016 tour of Australia. I skipped on the outside, saw where his feet were and thought, “right, he’s gone” but next second it’s like I’ve just been clubbed by a baseball bat.
‘He wraps me up and I’m just thinking “how has he got there?” One of his super strengths is how he uses that wingspan.
‘Ever since he missed out on the World Cup squad in 2015, which he should have got into in hindsight, you couldn’t hold him back. You knew he was physically very good but he was well ahead of his years with his preparation, making notes, discipline.
‘His greatest skill is that he’s a sponge. You can tell Maro something once and you never have to tell him again. That’s rare. If a coach tells him something, it’s logged.
‘His discipline and his focus to perform at such a consistent level for so long is something I’ve never seen before. He has probably two bad games in 100 caps and that’s unbelievable.
‘He’s in one of the most physical positions in the game. People have overused him, not given him a rest, but he just keeps coming back and performing. It’s unbelievable. The number of 80-minute performances he’s delivered is mad.
‘People have expected him to be the dominant force in England’s pack for 10 years and he’s very rarely been off the boil.’
Celebrating the Grand Slam in Paris in 2016, having been spurred on by the pain of missing out on the 2015 World Cup squad
Later that summer he was part of the historic whitewash in Australia, where Alex Goode (top right) felt the force of his tackling in training
‘People have expected him to be the dominant force in England’s pack for 10 years and he’s very rarely been off the boil’
While dealing with the grief of losing his mother, Itoje has kept turning up. On Thursday afternoon, sat beside the fire at Pennyhill Park, he used his platform to condemn the racist abuse towards Real Madrid footballer Vinicius Junior and Ireland second row Edwin Edogbo.
His playing minutes have been low over the last two months as England’s family man came to comes to terms with loss. He was substituted early in Scotland and load management will be an ongoing reality as he powers through his 30s.
But when it matters most on the pitch, Itoje will be there. He will step out in a pair of customised boots for his century.
Did anyone expect anything less? Party big, dress big, play big.
