# Maro Itoje

Oghenemaro Miles Itoje (born 28 October 1994) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and captains the England national team.
Itoje signed his first professional contract with Saracens in 2012, making his debut the following year. He received a call-up to represent England in the 2016 Six Nations Championship.
He has won five Premiership titles and three European titles with Saracens. At international level, Itoje has been a key figure in two British & Irish Lions tours, and been nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year three times. With England he has won a Grand Slam and Triple Crown.

## Early life

Maro Itoje was born in Camden, North London to Nigerian parents. He attended Salcombe Preparatory School in Southgate, North London at a primary level, before moving to board at St George's School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. At St George's, Itoje was first introduced to rugby at the age of eleven, and has cited Stuart Mitchell, a local volunteer rugby coach at school and club (HRFC), as being "a massive influence in my formative years. He used to drive me all around the country wherever we had the games." Maro later won a scholarship to Harrow School, a private school in London.
As a schoolboy, Itoje played several sports including basketball, football, rugby and athletics, representing England at the U17 level in shot put. He studied for a politics degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in Bloomsbury, London at the same time as starting his rugby career. In 2023, he was awarded an MBA from Warwick Business School.

## Club career

His senior debut for Saracens came in the 2012–13 season, aged 19 when he played against Cardiff Blues in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. He made his Aviva Premiership debut against Leicester Tigers later in the same season. Prior to this he had played for Harpenden at junior level (2005–11), then in the first team at Old Albanians, usually as a second row forward.
During his time at Saracens, he has won five Premiership titles in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023, with Itoje featuring in all five finals. He also helped Saracens win the European Champions Cup in 2016, 2017 and 2019. In the 2015–16 season, Itoje was also awarded the title of European Player of the Year.
In the 2024–2025 season, Itoje was announced as the new Saracens club captain, following the departure of Owen Farrell.

## International career

Itoje represented England at U18 and captained the England U20 team in the 2013–14 season. He scored a try in every 2014 Six Nations Under 20s Championship game and was England's Man of the Tournament.
Also in 2014, Itoje won the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship with England, co-captaining the side throughout the tournament.
Itoje was called up to the England Saxons squad on 21 January 2015 and made his debut against Ireland Wolfhounds on 30 January 2015.
Itoje was selected for England, for the first time, in the 2015 Rugby World Cup training squad but failed to make the final squad. He received his second call-up to the senior England squad from new coach Eddie Jones on 13 January 2016 for the 2016 Six Nations Championship. He went on to make his first-team debut against Italy and was named Man of the Match for his performance in the win against Wales on 12 March 2016. England later went on to win the Grand Slam. Itoje also played a starring role in the summer series win against Australia, starting all three tests, and was subsequently named the World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year for 2016.
Itoje was again instrumental in England's defence of the Six Nations title in 2017, this time starting all five games as a blindside flanker rather than his more usual second row.
Itoje was selected for the British & Irish Lions for their 2017 tour of New Zealand, as the youngest player named in the 41-man squad, aged 22. He was one of the standout players on the tour, scoring one try against the Maori All Blacks and appearing in all three tests against New Zealand. The Lions went on to draw the three-match series in the final test.
He was again selected for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, when the tourists lost the test series in a closely-fought third game decider. He was again a standout player and was subsequently voted the Lions Player of the series by his peers. At the end of that year, Itoje received his third nomination for the World Rugby Player of the Year award.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, he won 15 turnovers for England – three more than any other player from a tier one nation. In the same year, he was also first for attacking rucks hit, with 300, and defensive rucks hit, with 137.
In January 2025, Itoje was named as the new England captain, ahead of the 2025 Six Nations Championship. In February 2025, he earned his first victory as captain during 26–25 win over France. In February 2025, he became the first England captain since Owen Farrell during the 2020 Championship to lift the Calcutta Cup after a 16–15 victory over Scotland.

## Personal life

Itoje has expressed interests in politics and art.
In 2023, Itoje launched The Pearl Fund, an initiative aiming to gather funds to invest in the education of children in Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries.
In January 2025, Itoje voiced his support for the Six Nations to stay on free-to-air television, expressing that rugby should be a game that is accessible to everyone.

## Career statistics
### List of international tries

| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 9 June 2018 | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa | South Africa | 32–39 | 39–42 | 2018 England tour of South Africa |
| 2 | 24 August 2019 | Twickenham Stadium, London, England | Ireland | 27–10 | 57–15 | 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches |
| 3 | 13 March 2021 | Twickenham Stadium, London, England | France | 21–20 | 23–20 | 2021 Six Nations Championship |
| 4 | 6 November 2021 | Twickenham Stadium, London, England | Tonga | 22–3 | 69–3 | 2021 Autumn Nations Series |
| 5 | 12 August 2023 | Twickenham Stadium, London, England | Wales | 14–17 | 19–17 | 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches |
| 6 | 6 July 2024 | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand | New Zealand | 5–5 | 15–16 | 2024 England tour of New Zealand |
| 7 | 9 November 2024 | Twickenham Stadium, London, England | Australia | 35–35 | 37–42 | 2024 Autumn Nations Series |
| 8 | 15 March 2025 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | Wales | 5–0 | 68–14 | 2025 Six Nations Championship |
as of 15 March 2025

## Honours
### Saracens

* 5× Premiership winner: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023
* 1x Premiership runner-up: 2022
* 1× RFU Championship winner: 2021
* 3× European Rugby Champions Cup winner: 2016, 2017, 2019
* 1× Anglo-Welsh Cup winner: 2015
* 1x Premiership Rugby Shield winner: 2015

### England U20

* 1× World Rugby U20 Championship winner: 2014

### England

* 3× Six Nations Championship winner: 2016, 2017, 2020
* 1× Grand Slam winner: 2016
* 2× Triple Crown winner: 2016, 2020
* 1x Six Nations Championship runner-up: 2019
* 1× Autumn Nations Cup winner: 2020
* 1× Rugby World Cup runner-up: 2019
* 1× Rugby World Cup third place: 2023