Maro Itoje is on the seventh floor of Clara Grant School in Tower Hamlets, east London. In one window, a picture of wealth. The glittering financial district of Canary Wharf stands precariously above the inner city. In another, the tower block where most of the children live is often in poor and overcrowded conditions.
Twenty boys and girls from primary school greet Itoje with an inspiring game of The World in Unitythe first song recorded for the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England, before sitting in a circle with everyone asking him a question. How did you become England captain? What did you want to be when you grew up? What was your best moment on the field?
Itoje had started his day near St Paul’s Way primary school, where 43 per cent of children qualify for free school meals. When Sir Keir Starmer visited them, the first question he asked was: how much do you earn? Itoje avoided that, although he would have prepared well. Itoje and the prime minister spent time at the recent state party of the Nigerian president discussing how to deal with the scrutiny.
At a Windsor Castle dinner, Itoje discussed rugby with Princess Anne, who was very happy to present the Calcutta Cup to Scotland after England’s defeat at Murrayfield, had a “brief interaction with the King” about the Six Nations and talked about politics and the media with Starmer.
Itoje says: “He had Iran and the cost of living at the forefront of his mind. In the last six weeks, the England team and I have been criticized in a fair way. He has to live in that environment 24-7.
Dinner and country schools, from one to another for the England captain. Itoje is here in Tower Hamlets to meet children who receive weekly lessons supported by his organisation, the Pearl Fund. He finds it a valuable, personal experience.
Most of these students arrive at primary schools without good driving skills because they grew up staring at tablets. That is not necessarily a criticism of parents; many of them are out of work, trying to support their families.
However, the children in the two schools we visit crave the knowledge and interaction of dedicated adults provided by Action Tutoring volunteers. The number of people attending school on school days is increasing. Knowledge improves. Trust and communication grow.
Itoje says: “I’m looking behind you now. “This court area is where many children from this school live, maybe it’s a two-room house with three, four, five children. It is a very busy place. This is a densely populated area with no green space.
“We wanted to choose the most disadvantaged area and help the most vulnerable, the most vulnerable children. You can watch it on TV, you can read about it, but it doesn’t increase its importance until you see it in front of you.
“If you don’t see another way for yourself, if you see no hope in school or no hope in your education, then there is a high possibility of engaging in bad behavior.”
Itoje’s contribution is part of a wider initiative to close the achievement gap – the gap in educational performance between disadvantaged and privileged children – that has been growing since Covid. A pupil at Harrow School, raised in a wealthy family that prioritized education, Itoje acknowledges his good fortune and “birth lot”.
The final question of the meeting came from Rubel Aloum, head of school at Clara Grant. He asks Itoje to explain to the children the importance of perseverance, not giving up when they have a math problem and always working on their English when they have difficulty finishing a sentence.
When Itoje responded, he could just as easily have been referring to England’s Six Nations campaign, which was horribly marred by defeats to Scotland, Ireland and Italy before a superb game against France in Paris. With four defeats, this was England’s worst ever Six Nations campaign. Convenience is required with shovels.
“Life isn’t always fun. “When things get tough, persevere and eventually you’ll come out on the other side. Once you do, you’ll look back and say, ‘Oh, I thought it was hard but now I did it.’ Life is a series of those moments again and again. “When you have homework or a test that’s a little difficult, if you stick with it you’ll beat it.”
The children returned to class, some with Itoje’s autograph on their school uniforms, and we sat down. I want to dig deeper into that advice and his belief that a consistent approach and effort will ultimately prevail.
The RFU is reviewing England’s campaign. Some changes, whether in administrative staff, style or structure, seem inevitable. Steve Borthwick, the head coach, is expected to get Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in July to prove he can lead England from the other side. Itoje spoke to Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, telling him that the responsibility lies with the players.
You can go looking and you’re like, ‘This needs to change a lot, what needs to change a lot.’ Honestly, I don’t believe that,” he says. “Most of life is about persistence. We all have a plan for how we want life to be. Especially in sports, you want to win.
“Unfortunately life doesn’t work like that all the time. You have a decision to make, whether you’re going to roll with the punches, whether you’re going to decide to knock, do the work, persevere. I think a lot of goodness comes from those who persevere. A lot of beauty comes from those who are able to move through things that discourage them, obstacles, obstacles.
“That’s my opportunity as an individual, and it’s our opportunity as an England rugby club now. Obviously we’ve had some disappointing Six Nations. But I think in a few years we’ll look back and say, ‘We’ve learned from that experience.’
Leadership within the team was affected by a few seniors dealing with personal problems and poor performance, which made it difficult to drive ratings. Itoje went on to play in six caps for three months while recovering from a knee injury and dealing with the death of his mother.
When he joined England, when he went to his funeral in Nigeria, Itoje fell asleep due to food poisoning. “There are a few things we can do as players, the big players and myself to adapt quickly,” he says.
The RFU analysis aims to understand why England played at times as if they were in tactical trouble. England’s problems stemmed from poor morale – working half-time for more than a full Test during the Six Nations – and an inability to turn pressure into points.
Again, Itoje insists that was down to the players, not Borthwick. “Steve didn’t want us to play the way we played,” he says. “That wasn’t part of the plan. That was not part of the way he trained all week. But unfortunately we could not deal with it. We spent too many games with the man in the bin. And we weren’t performing.
“We were going into opposition 22 but we weren’t converting. We weren’t giving more concessions. [and 12 straight Test wins]. The freedom around us was destroyed when we were in control. We didn’t do all those things the way we should have done. ”
So what or who caused the positive change in the attacking game in France? Itoje returns here to the theme of his conversation with Starmer and his advice to children: in times of suffering, persevere and continue to do the work at hand.
Itoje said: “Steve showed us a lot of pictures that week of us moving the ball and playing above the teams. “He wanted us to do it earlier but given the conditions we were in, it was highlighted that week.
He said, ‘This is the group I think you are. This is the group I want you to be. I don’t want you to play it safe. I don’t want you to play inside yourself, not even a little bit. I want you to be this team that attacks the game.
“That game in France was a reminder that if we do our thing, if we play the way we want to play, we can beat anybody. That’s how we want to play. That’s how Steve wants us to play. That’s how the coaches want us to play. So we just need to make sure we execute that.
“I take responsibility with the big players. We need to make sure the team is ready to go. There is no need for a change.”
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