sport news Maro Itoje opens up about the state of Rugby and reveals his plans to run a ... trends now

At a time when rugby is crying out for bright minds and innovative, inspirational figures to transform the fortunes of the sport, Maro Itoje has good news about his post-playing plans.

The Saracens lock is only 27, but he is already working out what lies ahead after his retirement from active service. ‘I wanted to stay connected to rugby, but I don’t want to be a coach or a pundit,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘I’m interested in the executive side of the game; helping to run a club — that type of thing.’

It is easy to imagine him being a smart, dynamic presence in boardrooms, and helping to galvanise rugby, which is desperate for new leaders to drag it out of the mire. But to put this part of his vision in context, Itoje has plenty more on his personal agenda.

‘I’m going to be involved in a few different businesses and I want to continue with philanthropic work,’ he adds. ‘I will probably look to travel more and spend time in Nigeria and other African countries. And hopefully I will have a family by then too, so hopefully I will be able to spend a bit of time with my family.

‘You have to make hay when the sun shines, focus on rugby and devote your life to it as much as possible, but at the same time you have to prepare for what is coming next. Whilst I don’t have it exactly worked out, I know the direction I want to go in. It’s something I think about a lot.’

Itoje thinks deeply about his career, his sport and the world around him. This is not someone content to just train, play and relax. He has a desire to be informed and aware. 

‘I like to know what is going on,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to live in ignorance.’ That comment was in the context of the game’s struggle with the spectre of concussion, but it applies to all aspects of Itoje’s life.

Thorny issues are grasped by a player who already thinks like an administrator and a businessman. Rugby is in financial turmoil and Itoje recognises the scale of the crisis.

‘It is quite worrying,’ he says. ‘For two clubs, who knows what their future might be and if they will be here in two years’ time. No one can categorically say one way or the other. That shows that the finances around rugby are not as robust as they should be.

‘Before Covid, most players thought that if they signed a contract, come hell or high water you’re going to get that money. Then Covid happened and player salaries were cut just like that.

‘We need to find a way to make the game more sustainable by making commercial revenue around the clubs better. Speaking selfishly, as a player, we put ourselves at enormous risk and obviously we want to be well compensated for doing that. But the whole industry of rugby needs to grow for it to be a sustainable sport. More has to be done to engage a wider audience, because most clubs lose money. I don’t know if any clubs make a profit now.

‘Commercial revenues need to increase because the risk that it just takes one man, one owner, to say that they don’t want to accept a deficit of £4million, £5m, £8m — whatever it is — every year, then the whole community of rugby in that place will collapse.’

The other giant cloud over the oval-ball landscape is concussion — and grave health problems afflicting former players who are joining forces to take legal action against the game’s authorities.

Itoje was forced to miss England’s series decider in Australia in July after a blow to the head in the second Test in Brisbane. It was his first such episode, but he is grateful for the progress which has been made in this area of player welfare, to avoid the mistakes of the past.

‘Playing this game, you put yourself at risk in every training session and every game,’ he says. ‘I like to be aware and don’t want to live in ignorance, but at the same time I don’t want to let it dominate all my thoughts, otherwise I’ll be tentative.

‘Gone are the days where it was seen as a weakness to come off the field when your head is spinning. I’m very fortunate to be playing in this era because back in the early 2000s, up until the 2010s really, it had that stigma around it. People would say, “Ah, you’ve just had a knock, you’ll be fine next week”.

‘Not only would you feel internal pressure to be fine, but your team-mates would probably jeer you or take the p**s out of you or call you soft — stuff like that. But the culture in and around concussion now is miles apart from that.

‘On top of that, the protocols now, probably as a result of these unfortunate cases we’ve heard about, are so much better. Our generation of players are benefiting from the sins of the past in terms of the culture in and around

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