The ‘incredible’ compliment paid to Maro Itoje ahead of decision on British and Irish Lions tour captain
Theo Dan praises Saracens team-mate Maro Itoje.
Maro Itoje has been dubbed ‘Mr Incredible’ by an England team-mate as the countdown continues to the naming of the British and Irish Lions tour captain.
Itoje is a leading contender for the appointment, which will be confirmed by head coach Andy Farrell at The O2, in London, on May 8. Under his leadership both England and Saracens have enjoyed marked upturns in fortune.
On Saturday at StoneX Stadium Itoje maintained his record of completing every match he has started for club and country since September in Sarries‘ come-from-behind win over Gloucester.
Marathon feat
The lock forward has played the full 80 in England‘s last 21 Tests and, remarkably, averages 78.59 minutes per game across his 93 caps.
This marathon feat prompted changing room acclaim immediately after the Gloucester game with a salute from England hooker Theo Dan.
“He’s incredible,” said Dan. “I actually said to him in the changing room ‘I don’t know how you do it’. The level of consistency and the level of performance he puts in, week in week out; it’s not 40s [minutes], it’s not 50s, he puts in 80s every week.
“To churn out that level of performance with that amount of game time really is incredible. I’ve seen the stats… unbelievable. His engine is crazy. It’s absurd. I thought he was outstanding today, he always is.”
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Dan added: “He’s a massive role model in terms of his performance and professionalism. On and off the pitch he’s a fantastic leader. We’ve found that this year with Sarries and England. There’s no better guy to look up to.”
Back to back wins over top-four rivals Leicester and Gloucester have thrust Saracens firmly into the Gallagher Premiership play-off picture – and also boosted Dan’s international chances.
The 24-year-old has not played for England since the opening round of the Six Nations in Ireland yet was a tour de force for his club in Champions Cup defeat at Toulon a week ago.
Either side of that he scored Saracens’ winning try at Leicester and on Saturday weighed in with the two second-half tries which turned the match against Gloucester.
Former England fly-half Andy Goode has even spoken about him as a possible Lions bolter, saying: “Dan has got traits of [Dan] Sheehan that not many other hookers have, in terms of power and offloading ability. All you can do is put yourself in the shopwindow. [Against Toulon] that’s what Theo did.”
Not getting carried away
Dan agrees he is hitting a run of “decent” form, saying he is the beneficiary of Saracens becoming significantly more cohesive as the season goes on.
“Earlier in the season we were a bit up and down, sometimes not on the same page in terms of how we want to play,” he added. “Now we’re all on the same page and it’s so much easier for me personally to play in this team.
“I feel so much more comfortable but I’m not getting carried away. I’ve found in my career that the moment I’ve started to look too far forward into what’s coming is the moment my performances drop.
“I’ve learned a lot from that. I’m head down trying just to work on my craft, trying to put in the performances week in week out. If I do that good things will hopefully come my way.”
