Maro Itoje on blocking out the ‘white noise’ and the advice the England captain would give younger players on how to ‘stay humble’
Maro Itoje on blocking out the 'white noise' and the advice the England captain would give younger players on how to 'stay humble'
Saracens and England captain Maro Itoje has revealed how he keeps himself centred during high levels of public attention.
Speaking to Planet Rugby at the Prem launch a couple of weeks back, the 31-year-old said: “That’s the game; it comes with the territory”.
Itoje has won countless trophies over the years, from Prem titles and Six Nations Grand Slams to individual accolades such as being named the British and Irish Lions captain. But with this high level of performance comes increased scrutiny, and for Itoje, the spotlight is always on him.
“I’ve had times in my career where I have been widely acclaimed,” he said. “I’ve had times in my career where I’ve been widely criticised. Either side isn’t right, and you don’t want to get too high with praise, and you don’t want to get too low with criticism. So you want to stay in the middle.
“I don’t want to place my value on how I see myself or my performance on what other people say. I have a reasonably strong sense of who I am. I know what is good. I’m a reasonably self-aware person. So I just try and focus on what I control and focus on what’s important.”
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“Everyone else is white noise”
With over a decade in the international game under his belt already, Itoje has over a century of caps for England and will arguably go down as one of the greatest locks of all time.
So what advice does the Saracens man have for those at the other end of their careers?
“I would just say: keep the main thing the main thing,” he stated. “Focus on the people that you trust and are knowledgeable. Everyone else is white noise.
“Don’t get too high with the highs. Don’t get too low with the lows. And be humble enough and hopefully be wise enough to discern the difference.”
Itoje will likely return to rugby for Saracens’ opening match away to Leicester Tigers on September 27, after taking a break from international duty this summer.
He is expected to join his international teammates again in November, when England prepare to face Australia, Japan and New Zealand in the Northern Hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship.
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