![England's Maro Itoje reacts in scrum against New Zealand](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/rugby-union/2024/07/13/TELEMMGLPICT000385425581_17208817302500_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqQDfO_Li8BnuRdRCVfSGXuZgojZYlP8f0i9h2tPqCNsM.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Maro Itoje back as England’s best player, but now he must be managed properly
Saracens lock will be the test case for the minute 2,400-minute game limit next season put in place by the new Professional Game Partnership
![England's Maro Itoje reacts in scrum against New Zealand](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/rugby-union/2024/07/13/TELEMMGLPICT000385425581_17208817302500_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqQDfO_Li8BnuRdRCVfSGXuZgojZYlP8f0i9h2tPqCNsM.jpeg?imwidth=680)
There were enough uncomfortable parallels between this close fought defeat and first Test loss in Dunedin to ensure that the England coaching staff will not enjoy a wink of sleep on the 26-hour, indirect, flight home from Auckland. And probably a fair few nights after that as well.
A shaky scrum, an unbalanced penalty count, England scoring right on halftime, an early second-half lead, a failure to capitalise upon a strong start to the second half before a slow decline in the final quarter with Beauden Barrett pulling the strings. No amount of Nytol will be able to stop the woulda, shoulda, coulda hypotheticals from bouncing around Steve Borthwick’s head.
The other constant was the brilliance of Maro Itoje throughout this series. If Barrett was the most influential player in both matches as a replacement, Itoje was hands down the best. If this summer series counts as the starting gun for the Lions captaincy then Itoje should have put himself right at the front of that queue with a pair of monumental performances against the All Blacks, particularly at the line-out where at one point New Zealand hooker Codie Taylor was throwing directly to him.
The ‘should’ is because Saracens, England and the Lions collectively cannot allow him to exceed the 2,400-minute game limit next season as he did in this campaign. By the final quarter at Eden Park, Itoje was utterly spent. At one point, he was receiving treatment for various unspecified ailments and the New Zealand fans around the press box were baying for him to be withdrawn. Sadly, there was absolutely no chance of that happening, he has become too important for his own good. Whatever effect the magic sponge had, Itoje rose to his feet and promptly conceded two penalties, a horsecollar tackle and a line-out infringement that both screamed of tiredness.
In Animal Farm, Boxer is the strongest and hardest worker on the farm. His solution to every problem is to work harder. Eventually though he collapses through overwork and, well, let us just say it does not have a happy ending from there.
![Maro Itoje rises to win a line out ball](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/rugby-union/2024/07/13/TELEMMGLPICT000385427402_17208851834280_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq3VPGG0kT-UwTbOOqgA0Jd5gojZYlP8f0i9h2tPqCNsM.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Itoje may not be bound for the knackers yard just yet but he is bound to be the test case of whether the new Professional Game Partnership between the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby actually has any meaning beyond vague talk of collaboration and cooperation. In that agreement, the total number of games a player can play comes down from 35 to 30, although it is not clear if this cap will make any allowances for the Lions series. Almost certainly it will not.
But like Boxer you cannot keep slogging Itoje and expect him to keep performing indefinitely. He is always going to want to play in all the big games for Saracens, England and the Lions. There are going to have to be significant compromises by all sides, including Itoje. He will be forced to miss matches he wants to play in. That is why the limit exists. To protect players from themselves.
Before the last quarter, Itoje was immense as he won his 84th cap, the same number that Martin Johnson won in his illustrious career. For the first hour, he single-handedly demolished the All Blacks line-out, whether pinching balls or disrupting their supply to the point of incoherence. In the loose, the 29-year-old was reversing the breakdown momentum that England had fallen on the wrong side of in Dunedin.
When it comes to Lions selection decisions, Andy Farrell will weigh some performances higher than others and those outstanding displays on New Zealand and South African soil will carry so much heft.
‘He is genuinely world-class’
“To perform like this at the end of a very, very long season is testament to the sort of character that he is and the sort of player that he is,” Jamie George, the captain, said. “He is genuinely world-class, I don’t say that lightly. You see everything that he does on the field, but for me as a captain and for Steve as a coach to have a player who is so meticulous with his preparation and his leadership is a huge credit to us. We’re very lucky to have him.”
If they are lucky to have him, it is sometimes hard to tell whether they are prepared to protect their best assets, or like the pigs on Animal Farm, flog them into the ground.