Exclusive Maro Itoje: British and Irish Lions Commander, Trailblazer, Wind-UP and Man Man | Rugby Union News

It was very few weeks for Maro Itogi.

Captain Black British and Irish and then tied the knot with the wife Mimi, it will be difficult to scrutin in a better summer if he leads his packages to a chain victory in Australia.

In fact, the year was the year – whose name includes Captain Sarasins and England, as well as his last marriage and appointment – the 30 -year -old admits that he was a whirlwind.

“It was incredibly important,” he said. “But when you pass it, you have no time to think. We hope for a season of relaxation.”

We were interviewed in a barber shop, which is a suitable metaphor for renewal.

Itoje has gone through the change of the image in the past two years, which has cut the Majdal since 2014.

“Inclusion is the truth of life” is the quote that accompanied the social media function to cut.

“I can’t remember who I heard says that, maybe Will Smith,” he was trying to remember. “I felt it’s time. The end of the World Cup. I thought it had come to start a new paper.”

Itoje is one of the Union stars in the rugby game. You sit in the interview, you feel comfortable, but you stand, you realize why he is afraid in the field.

He was born and raised and still lives in northern London, despite his representation of England, Itoje was always frank about his pride in his Nigerian heritage.

His appointment was as a great black leader. The first black person holds this position.

“It shows growth in the game, and I think it appears to where the game is going,” he said.

“In 1980, there may not be many blacks playing the rugby game.

“Now, if you look at the best 14 or prime minister, there is an increase in this regard, and the game is more and more.

“We want to grow the roll. We want to integrate the same game in different societies and all this kind of things. This happens. We may like to accelerate, and this is what we want.

“That is why this is a great responsibility for myself. But the most important thing is that it is not necessarily indications in this regard. The most important thing is that the team wins and that the team is successful.”

“I am ready” – itoje to lead the lions

It is a great journey for someone who has not seen any talk about the Rakbi game. This has changed now, of course.

Itoje is the winner of the Premier League five times. Three times winner from the six countries. The runner-up of the World Cup in 2019. Black record in a series drawn in New Zealand in 2017 and the 2-1 series defeat in South Africa in 2021.

But despite all of this, does he feel nervous?

“I feel nervous!” I confess. “I feel nervous before each game, regardless of who we play.

“Saracens spent a year in playing against students and plumber, I was still tense.”

Blacks and students will be replaced for the proverbs of Rob Valetini and Fraser Mcreight Come July 19. The nerves will be raised as the black ITOJE leads to the first test in Brisbane.

“Obviously, the size of the game will be much higher than what I have done and experienced before, but I feel ready.

“I feel ready to do this role. I think I am ready to do the task and gain confidence from the quality of the coaches we have, the quality of our support staff and the quality of our employees inside our team.

“Of course, I think you will be a little worry if I said I was not tense at all.”

Itoje chooses Steve Portoic, Brad Barrett, Owen Farrell, Billy and Mako Fonipola as some of those who have influenced him as leaders along the way.

“I think with the leadership, it’s not necessarily about copying and paste by anyone else. I think everyone is a unique being and I think my approach is to do this in a way that is in line with my personality and it is real for me,” said Itoji.

“I don’t think I began doing any of these things (to become Captain Sarasins, England and Lions). It is clear that you have dreams and aspirations, and you think, is it not great to do this, is it not great to do this?

“Perhaps now, it seems as if some might feel that it will always happen, it was natural progress. For large parts of my career, I was not restricting anyone, and I was not restricting anything. So it wasn’t always clear as it might seem now.

“But it is just a blessing. I feel very proud and humble to be in this position. I feel that it is my job to throw all myself in the task that is now this black tour.”

“A huge part of my life” – Itoje on his faith journey

Away from the rugby, Itoji says that his faith as a Christian is of great importance to him, as well as his faith in the football team.

He said: “My faith is a huge part of my life. I was always Christian. I deliberately when I was a young child.”

“Perhaps two to three years ago in any case, I decided to double my faith really and wanted to have a closer relationship with God. I started taking steps to try to do so. As with all these things, it is a journey.

“It is something that deepens with the passage of time and I want to devote my life to that. And a married man, so this is a blessing.”

His faith was tested in Arsenal last year, but North London tells one of his first memories in Arsenal, where he left the Champions League in 2008 against Liverpool, which is the result of his tears at his home at Haru School.

“I cannot allow Arsenal to allow me to cry anymore! This year was soon, we had a lot of hope but this is life and sports. Next year is our year!”

After finishing his haircut, it was the time for ITOJE. His ongoing partnership with Under Armor, a relationship that started in 2021, is a process that he says go beyond the base.

“Perhaps what is the difference between Under Armor and other companies, brands, or anything is the support they give from the field and how much they care about the athlete instead of just coming here, doing it, just coming here, taking two pictures.

“It is care, it’s a totalitarian care 360. So, whether it is a freshness outside the field, it is very large in recovery. I have the ability to talk to their experts in recovery and evaluate my sleep and my recovery protocols, and it helped me most likely to become more comprehensive in this sense.”

Sky Sports It will appear exclusively for the British and Irish black tour of 2025, with the three tests against Wallabies and six warm -up matches exclusively.