Maro Itoje was installed as England captain, primarily for two reasons. Firstly to give England a more abrasive, harder edge. Secondly, to help Steve Borthwick’s side close out matches, to steer them home in the second half, with the clock ticking down and the pressure turning up a few notches. On the evidence of his first game since being appointed, he is halfway there. Because Itoje was possessed for an hour, powerless for 20 minutes as England’s recurring problem reared its head once again, the drop-off cataclysmic. Welcome to the new England era, same as the old one.
As impressive as Itoje was in the first half, it is an irony lost on few that Borthwick explained his reasoning for making Itoje captain on the basis that he stays on the pitch for 80 minutes only for England to turn in their worst second-half performance in recent memory. It is not Itoje’s fault, he alone cannot hold back the tide, or as he is often fond of telling us, in victory or in defeat, “no man is an island”, but the most telling image of the final quarter was Itoje getting dumped on his backside by Jamison Gibson-Park.
It is, of course, early days in Itoje’s captaincy. He will perhaps learn to exert more influence on referees as he gains in experience, but here he adopted a manner all too close to a sheepish schoolboy. It is one thing being polite, another making sure you get your point across. That said, Itoje’s strength as a leader was always going to be his willingness to go to places others will follow and for the opening 55 or so minutes he did precisely that.
England carried out their gameplan to the letter in the first half – the Curry brothers wreaking havoc at the breakdown and Itoje dragging England on to the front foot almost single-handedly at times. Granted, Ireland played a part in all that but they were made to look dreadful by an England side who looked more athletic, more energetic.
As the great Australian cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud used to say, “captaincy is 90% luck and 10% skill but don’t try it without that 10%” and on that basis, Itoje’s tenure got off to the best possible start, winning the toss and opting to kick off. Soon Tom Curry was on the ball and not long after that, Marcus Smith scythed through the Ireland defence. It did not immediately yield any points but it was a clear statement that England were here to play. To get in Ireland’s face.
Just seven minutes in and Itoje was making his presence felt. He almost won a turnover, did his best to scrag Ireland’s captain Caelan Doris and was at the thick of things during a passage of play in which the home side were disallowed a try, soon after Cadan Murley had opened the scoring.
Ireland were battering away in England’s 22 and Itoje ran head first into the danger. He made two crucial tackles in quick succession and while the first was a penalty, he had succeeded in disrupting Ireland’s rhythm. From the restart, Rónan Kelleher thought he had scored only for the try to be chalked off because Tadhg Beirne was illegally holding Itoje’s leg and preventing him from covering the space. It is unclear whether Itoje’s fierce remonstrations with the assistant referee played any part in the try being disallowed but it was a smart move nonetheless.
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Approaching the end of the first quarter with Ireland still in search of their stride, Itoje thundered into Finlay Bealham. The England lock knocked the ball on but here he was, setting the tone again. A few minutes later and it was his try-saving tackle on Ryan Baird in the right-hand corner. Smith was soon shown a yellow card but England held their line for a full 10 minutes before conceding Gibson-Park’s try.
In the second half Itoje was penalised for a push in the lineout – on the one hand a foolish one to give away in that it enabled Sam Prendergast to kick Ireland ahead, on the other it was harsh and the referee, Ben O’Keeffe, pinged the home side for the same thing a few minutes later. Itoje’s frustrations got the better of him when he could be heard lamenting that James Ryan should not be talking to O’Keeffe on the basis he is not the captain, but then the third quarter was nearly up by then, England were trailing by three and it was time for Itoje to demonstrate just why he has been promoted to captain.
As it was, the bench – just as was the case in the autumn – made barely an impact and while Tom Curry and Tommy Freeman ran in late tries, the game was up by then thanks to scores from Beirne and Sheehan.
Itoje had expressed confidence that England had fixed their final quarter frailties beforehand but, ultimately, here his side found another new way to lose their way. That he could do nothing about it leaves him with much to ponder.
