Lions skipper Maro Itoje’s ‘no wrinkles’ response to his enormous number of on-pitch minutes this season and what he makes of ‘chirpy’ Australians
Maro Itoje reacts at Monday's British and Irish Lions media session in Brisbane
Maro Itoje has played down the significance of the number of minutes he has played this season, insisting he is feeling refreshed ahead of captaining the British and Irish Lions in Wednesday’s clash with the Queensland Reds.
The 30-year-old lock has a reputation for boundary-breaking durability. For example, he has played every single minute of England’s last 30 matches in the Six Nations – that is the entirety of six different campaigns.
According to statistics on itsrugby.co.uk, Itoje played 2,085 minutes in his 27 club and country appearances across the 2024/25 season for Saracens and England. That enormous figure has now risen to 2,157 following his 72-minute shift as Lions skipper in their pre-departure clash with Argentina in Dublin.
Itoje was omitted for last Saturday’s fixture with Western Force in Perth, but he now returns to action for the midweek meeting against the Reds in Brisbane.
At a top-table media briefing on Monday with Andy Farrell, Itoje was beaten to the punch by the Lions head coach when asked how he was feeling following yet another long season. “He looks well for it, doesn’t he? Look at the smile,” chuckled Farrell before allowing Itoje to answer.
“To have a different stimulus has been great…”
“No wrinkles,” chuckled the skipper. “I feel good. I was actually thinking about this the other day, I felt refreshed coming into this environment. Often when you talk about game minutes and load, part of it is the physical load but a lot of it is the mental load.
“Coming into this new environment, spending time with new players, new systems, new coaches, everything, has been really refreshing. In my career I have had a lot of consistency with club and country, so just to have a different stimulus has been great.”
Last Saturday’s match day rest in Perth was unusual for Itoje, who described his role on the day as a bag holder. “My role was simply just to support the team. I was what they call it, the guy who warms up, I have forgotten the name for it.”
“The bag holder,” Farrell interjected. “Yeah, the bag holder,” Itoje replied. “I was one of the guys who warmed up the team as a travelling reserve and I just looked to support them in any way I could.
“I thought it was a great game. They challenged us, I thought the Force were an athletic team and they challenged us accordingly. I thought our boys did a very good job, they stuck at it. A lot of the work-ons from the Argentina game they demonstrated on the weekend.”
Wednesday’s Lions now face a different work-on that will be close to Itoje’s heart as a second-row, tidying up their kick-off receipt which was all over the place versus the Force. He promised it would be sorted out.
“All these things, naturally when you are putting a team together, putting new combinations together there is a few teething issues and whilst it was a bit challenging on the weekend, I have no doubt that we will be able to sort that out,” he insisted.
Much was made in the media about the stadium PA announcer in Perth introducing four of the Lions by their country of birth. An example was, “Our former Aussie at No.14, Mack Hansen.”
Asked for his reaction, Itoje said: “It’s just a sport-loving country who are aggressive competitors, who are a little bit chirpy, but I guess that is the Australian way.
“It’s the Australian way, isn’t it? It is what it is, it’s not even an issue. That’s a minor comment, something that we don’t really pay too much attention to. It neither spurs us on or detracts us. It’s just an off-the-cuff comment that someone makes.”
