by One day, clarity can come for Maro Itoje and he will be able to remember exactly what he said in his closing arguments to referee Andrea Piardi while the Italian official deliberated on a decision that finally followed the path of the British and Irish lions. In the immediacy of the victory, the memories of Itoje were a little misty, but it is fair to assume that his words in support of the legality of Jac Morgan’s challenge were not the refined affair for the defense of an experienced lawyer.
“I don’t really know, to be honest,” ITOJE offered when asked what had been pronounced when he, Piardi and the opposite number, Harry Wilson, gathered. “It was good. Of course, their captain tried to get his point of view and, in my opinion, pleads for something that did not happen. I guess I was just arguing for something that happened. Fortunately, Jac was exact with what he was doing and that everything was fine.”
Maro Itoje was delighted with the triumph on his side (Getty Images)
What Itoje will remember forever are the moments after the decision of the decision and the celebrations that followed. During his post-match press conference functions, the legend of the Lions was being serenade of the locker room next door by the rest of his team, already bouncing on the verge of starting a party that continued for a long time in the night. Before even leaving the field, Itoje leads the crowd and invited them to join him in a repeated roar of “Lions!”. The lock has its own song, of course – it is rare in rugby that the individual is celebrated in such a way, but the suitable song of “Seven Nation Army” was a hymn for travel fans since the second test in Wellington in 2017 where he really announced his arrival.
Advertisement
Itoje was then just a little; Now he is the king of the lion. As he knows, the list of winning skippers in test series is short in the professional era. Thursday evening, tourists were visited by Martin Johnson, one of the only two successful predecessors in the past 30 years – but even he has lost his second series in charge, which was a key element of his message to Itoje and the group. Perhaps in the difficult times of 23-5, it helped to breathe the unshakable belief that helped Lions produce their greatest return.
Maro Itoje was a star of the 2017 series (Getty Images)
What was clear both in these delicate periods in the first half and the 10 final minutes are the calm and the composure that ITOJE and his colleagues leaders had. The Lions were quite summary for the big passages of the game, supporting the errors with errors and penalties to allow a very good Australia to build their advantage. It would have been easy, given these circumstances, to panic; That they did not say much about the character of a team that had not really been tested during this tour.
“The essential was our bad discipline or our lack of composure or our inaccuracy led to their positive results,” said Itoje. “Often, when there is a little distance and you lose a little from a score point of view, you can think:” Oh my God, we lose the game, we must mark “. I think the right approach is just to focus on the next game and just to focus on the next result or the next passage of the game.
The calm leadership of Maro Itoje (Center) was congratulated by the head coach of Lions Andy Farrell (AP)
“In this way, you are mentally embarking on the game. Once we arrived so far behind, the message was right:” This is where we are at the moment. Let’s just focus on the next passage of the game. “Then we started to bring ourselves back.”
Advertisement
It is difficult to believe that ITOJE started 2025 without ever having capitalized a senior international match. The hypothesis that he would have reached the highest post was doubted by a few, even when his external management was rejected by Eddie Jones, and he has become major in the last six most pleasant months which also included his marriage. There is a world where he was not a leader during this trip – Caelan Doris had presented an equally excellent case for the captain before the injury – but it is difficult to imagine someone else who directs pride now. Itoje, famous, does not swear and does not choose and does not choose his moments to speak; Some of the most energetic pre-match speeches on this tour were pronounced by Ellis Genge, while Finn Russell, Jamiston Gibson-Park and Owen Farrell were all key influences at the end of the MCG.
“He is cool, calm and collected,” said head coach Andy Farrell about his skipper. “I thought he was exceptional in his captain. He was through the game. While the game was starting to take place in front of us, he was calm. He understood what was necessary and how we communicated with the referee. The flow of the game, he was absolutely perfect. If you listen to the message that was on the microphone of the referee in time, you realize how much he was.”
The old friends Will Skelton (left) and Maro Itoje went from end to end in Melbourne (Getty Images)
Sitting with him a few days before his 30th anniversary last year, it was clear that ITOJE thought there was much more to achieve in the game. While he exceeded 100 international ceilings in the first match of this series, and a ton will soon follow in English white, the idea of personal milestones has a limited interest in the lock if he is not accompanied by a success of the team. In truth, he did not have his best individual game in the second test – Itoje himself admitted that he had made too many errors, when he seemed to be shaken, upset and targeted by the former colleague of the Saracens Will Skelton machine room. But it will be forgotten in time – and Melbourne’s magic memories will remain with Itoje forever.
