Sam Warburton, blunt about Maro Itoje Captaincy in British & Irish Lions

The designation of Maro itoje as captain of the British and Irish Lions brought many repercussions, and a former reference of the Lions as Sam Warburton recalled an anecdote of the 2017 tour by New Zealand in which he noticed how English had a reference soul from that moment. All rugby, for Disney+.

“I remember that tour and one of the first Lineaut sessions we had. Steve Borthwick directed it and used mainly the decisions of England, but Maro impressed me a lot. I was young then, I was only 22 years old. I thought: ‘I shouted as a future captain of England and Los Lions.’ It was simply his way of speaking, his presence and his knowledge. And I don’t know the reasons, but without a doubt now it is recovering the lost time ”he expressed full of praise.

In addition, the Welshman added other fundamental factors to add itoje outside the field: “I was seeing Maro from my hotel room on Thursday morning early, taking all his photos with the lion and much more. It can be a bit heavy, but you have to take into account the amount of extracurricular activities that entails being captain of the lions. You need someone who feels comfortable in that environment, dealing with the press, photographers and sponsor. Having a good public presence and being good with the referee..

Finally, Warburton sentenced that “It is his third tour. He was the player of the series on the previous tour, to South Africa. He has seen everything. He is the perfect captain of the Lions”.