{"id":776320,"date":"2026-02-20T04:15:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/776320\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T04:15:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:15:28","slug":"maro-itoje-hits-100-england-captains-team-mates-reveal-the-secrets-of-his-success-his-super-strength-that-stunned-them-the-mistake-eddie-jones-made-early-on-spirits-over-beer-and-the-special-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/776320\/","title":{"rendered":"MARO ITOJE HITS 100: England captain’s team-mates reveal the secrets of his success – his ‘super-strength’ that stunned them, the mistake Eddie Jones made early on, spirits over beer and the special way he’ll mark his century"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Maro walked through about five times in five different outfits,\u2019 recalls his Saracens and England team-mate Nick Isiekwe. \u2018It was absolutely incredible. Nigerian food, Nigerian clothing.\u2019<\/p>\n

The likes of Marcus Smith, Jamie George and Ben Earl wore traditional Urhobo dress to reflect Itoje\u2019s family tribe.<\/p>\n

\u2018Seeing all the guys from different cultures under one roof was really special,\u2019 adds Isiekwe. \u2018That summed up Maro. Extravagant. Good vibes. The parties he throws are big. The way he plays is big.\u2019<\/p>\n

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 \u2018ItojeFest\u2019 house party in north London attest that he will not be toasting his century with a pint of lager in the players\u2019 lounge.<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s never been a beer drinker,\u2019 says Isiekwe. \u2018Dark spirits are more his thing. Even if it\u2019s his 100th cap, he will stick to his principles on that! The way\u2019s he\u2019s turned up over such a long period of time is greatness. Let\u2019s call it how it is. I get goosebumps knowing that he\u2019s my team-mate and my friend. I hope he knows how proud we are.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Maro <\/p>\n

Maro Itoje will become the ninth Englishman to win 100 caps for his country on Saturday against Ireland<\/p>\n

\"Itoje \"England <\/p>\n

Itoje at his wedding to Mimi (left) – when his England and Saracens team-mates such as Ben Earl (right)\u00a0wore traditional Urhobo dress to reflect Itoje\u2019s family tribe<\/p>\n

MARO READY TO JOIN CENTURIONS\u00a0 <\/p>\n Player\u00a0 Caps <\/tr>\n\n1. Ben Youngs<\/td>\n127 (2010-23)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2. Dan Cole\u00a0<\/td>\n118 (2010-24)\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n3. Jason Leonard\u00a0<\/td>\n114 (1990-2003)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n4. Owen Farrell\u00a0<\/td>\n112 (2012-23)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n5. George Ford\u00a0<\/td>\n107 (2014-present)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n= Jamie George\u00a0<\/td>\n107 (2015-present)\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n7. Courtney Lawes<\/td>\n105 (2009-23)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n8. Danny Care\u00a0<\/td>\n101 (2008-24)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n9. MARO ITOJE\u00a0<\/td>\n99\u00a0(2016-present)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\u2019s lustre pearl earrings yet the two stand on a similar pedestal of power.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018In a world of ruthless aggression, Maro\u2019s someone who takes time to think about things,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s 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\u2019re good mates and Maro will just smile and shrug it off.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone likes him because he\u2019s got a lovely way about him and he cares about people. He\u2019s very family orientated. After a win, he\u2019s more likely to go home to his family than head to the pub, but he understands the nature of the team. He\u2019s not the joker in the pack, he\u2019s not leading the social, he\u2019s not delivering state of the nation speeches… but you know he\u2019s going to perform.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Castore tracksuits.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Maro came off the bench against Italy for his debut and you could see straight away that he was made for it,\u2019 recalls Jones. \u2018Competitive, 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.<\/p>\n

\"Being <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"Itoje <\/p>\n

Itoje in his Harrow School days, when he was already breaking into the Saracens first team<\/p>\n

\"'He\u2019s <\/p>\n

‘He\u2019s not the joker in the pack, he\u2019s not leading the social, he\u2019s not delivering state of the nation speeches… but you know he\u2019s going to perform\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I 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.<\/p>\n

‘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.\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018What I said may have been right or it may not have been right but I don\u2019t regret saying it one iota,\u2019 Jones says now. \u2018There\u2019s a difference between just getting the captaincy because you\u2019re the best player and actually being the captain.<\/p>\n

‘He\u2019s got it at a time when he\u2019s 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\u2019s up there with the legends of English rugby.\u2019<\/p>\n

Itoje\u2019s 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\u2019s Six Nations, he had played every minute of every England Test since 2020.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Maro\u2019s blessed with an abnormal power,\u2019 says Goode. \u2018I 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\u2019d never really done it and he didn\u2019t know his own strength. He just kept going up – 20kg, 30kg, 40kg, 50kg. He went up to 75kg and I couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

\"Itoje\u2019s <\/p>\n

Itoje\u2019s soft skills are underpinned with steel on the pitch. He has two metal plates in his jaw but his body has shown remarkable durability<\/p>\n

\"His <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"High-octane, <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u2018One 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\u2019s hand or make a tackle with one arm?<\/p>\n

‘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, \u201cright, he\u2019s gone\u201d but next second it\u2019s like I\u2019ve just been clubbed by a baseball bat.<\/p>\n

‘He wraps me up and I\u2019m just thinking \u201chow has he got there?\u201d One of his super strengths is how he uses that wingspan.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ever since he missed out on the World Cup squad in 2015, which he should have got into in hindsight, you couldn\u2019t hold him back. You knew he was physically very good but he was well ahead of his years with his preparation, making notes, discipline.<\/p>\n

‘His greatest skill is that he\u2019s a sponge. You can tell Maro something once and you never have to tell him again. That\u2019s rare. If a coach tells him something, it\u2019s logged.<\/p>\n

\u2018His discipline and his focus to perform at such a consistent level for so long is something I\u2019ve never seen before. He has probably two bad games in 100 caps and that\u2019s unbelievable.<\/p>\n

‘He\u2019s 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\u2019s unbelievable. The number of 80-minute performances he\u2019s delivered is mad.<\/p>\n

‘People have expected him to be the dominant force in England\u2019s pack for 10 years and he\u2019s very rarely been off the boil.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating <\/p>\n

Celebrating the Grand Slam in Paris in 2016, having been spurred on by the pain of missing out on the 2015 World Cup squad<\/p>\n

\"Later <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\"'People <\/p>\n

‘People have expected him to be the dominant force in England\u2019s pack for 10 years and he\u2019s very rarely been off the boil\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

His playing minutes have been low over the last two months as England\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Did anyone expect anything less? Party big, dress big, play big.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At their glamorous wedding in Covent Garden last August, Maro Itoje and his partner, Mimi, were showered with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[37482,186402,226638,748,92,226637,393,4211,4206,4884,4207,4212,4210,4214,4208,4209,186401,93,26349,16,15,4213],"class_list":["post-776320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-all-blacks","tag-argentina-rugby","tag-australia-rugby","tag-britain","tag-dailymail","tag-eddie-jones-news","tag-england","tag-england-rugby","tag-france-rugby","tag-great-britain","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-italy-rugby","tag-lions-tour","tag-rugby-world-cup","tag-scotland-rugby","tag-six-nations","tag-south-africa-rugby","tag-sport","tag-steve-borthwick","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wales-rugby"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}