Maro Itoje

Maro Itoje is a firm favourite with both Saracens and England fans. An agile lock and blindside flanker, he’s one of the game’s top stars. As a result, despite his young age, he’s bagged almost all of rugby union’s top prizes.

Born as Oghenemaro Miles Itoje on 28 October 1994, Maro Itoje was introduced to rugby at the age of 11. His talent showed at a young age and he was offered a scholarship to Harrow School where he played basketball, football, rugby and athletics. Due to his strength and power, he also represented England at under 17 level in shot put.

Upon deciding to play rugby professionally, Maro Itoje signed for Saracens in 2012, where he has remained ever since. During this period, he has been highly successful. For Saracens, he’s won four Premiership titles in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. Plus, he’s also won the Heineken Champions Cup three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Due to his success at domestic level, Maro Itoje received his first England cap against Italy in the Six Nations Championship in 2016. Later in the tournament, he was Man of the Match against Wales and featured regularly as England claimed the Grand Slam. Since then, he’s won two more Six Nations Championships and an Autumn Nations Cup. Plus, he also performed well in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where England reached the final.

In addition, Maro Itoje was also selected for the British and Irish Lions squad in 2017, despite only being 22 at the time. On the tour, he appeared in all three tests as the Lions claimed a historic draw. Thanks to his successes on the New Zealand tour and his form since, he’s also been named in the Lions squad for the 2021 tour of South Africa. 

Due to the fact he’s still only young, many analysts believe that Maro Itoje will only get better. We can’t wait to see where he goes from here.