"That wasn't acceptable" – Maro Itoje: England lock pushing for win against Springboks after 'bitter disappointment' against Australia

11/11/2024 08:04 AM

England lock Maro Itoje was undeniably frustrated after his side’s second loss of the Autumn Nations Series. Expectations were high that England would secure the win over the Wallabies, and recover from their gut-punch of a defeat they sustained the previous Saturday against the All Blacks.

It looked like Itoje had secured a memorable win, as the Saracen clawed his side back in front with a try from close range. Itoje powered over the line with a minute left of the match, to take England back in front as the match clock counted down the closing moments.

However, there was one last twist in the tale, as Itoje spilled the following kick-off due to the relentless areal pressure of Joseph Suaalii at the re-start. The subsequent scrum then laid the foundations for Australia’s last-ditch try, with replacement wing Max Jogensen sealing the victory with a try in the corner.

“It was a bit of a contest all game (kick-offs). It was an area where he’s (Joseph Suaalii) pretty strong. We went up for it. I think he said it was a knock on. We went for a scrum, then we defended thereafter, and ultimately they scored in the corner.”

“There's no doubt we didn't want to be in this position.” Itoje then told the reporting media at the Allianz Stadium. “When we came into this autumn, we weren’t expecting to lose our first two. So no doubt we’re very disappointed, but it’s still a tremendous opportunity next week. We have the world champions coming to Twickenham. We have an amazing opportunity to do something.”

Ever the optimist, Itoje already has one eye on the incoming opponents for this weekend, as England host South Africa in the third round of the Autumn Nations Series. The Springboks commenced their own Autumn campaign this past weekend, with Rassie Erasmus’ side laying out their intentions for a dominant return to London, as they handed Scotland a 32-15 defeat up in Edinburgh.

Whilst Itoje was by no means brushing off any frustrations he had following the loss to the Wallabies, the lock understands the importance of analysing the match and going again for the next task at hand.

“It definitely hurts, mainly because it’s the most recent one and we’ve just gone through it. As I said last week is not too different to this week. The growth of this team is to be in those situations and close out the game. That’s where we need to get better.”

“I haven’t watched it back, so this is my analysis from the feeling of being out there, but we just didn’t defend probably as aggressively and as consistently as we probably needed to. All things being equal, we shouldn’t concede a try from 40, 45 metres out. We shouldn’t really do that. We have to learn get better, but ultimately, we need to make sure that we defend better and close out games.”

“Whilst we're bitterly disappointed about the results that have happened, there’s no doubt in my mind that if we do our thing, are more consistent and play smarter rugby, it's a game we can win. We have our backs against the wall  a little bit. It’s still a tremendous opportunity for us and that’s what we need to be excited about. In times like this, it’s tough.

“I definitely don’t want to be in a situation or scenario like this. But it also presents a wonderful opportunity to use and next week is a wonderful opportunity for us to take control of our narrative and get the rewards for our efforts. So from our point of view we want to come back here to Twickenham next week full of energy, full of bounce and just rip into the game, attack the game. And I think if we do that, I think we can get the job done.”

The Saracen then spoke on England’s defensive performance, with Steve Borthwick’s side having an underwhelming effort in this area with more than 30 missed tackles against Australia. England have long been utilising the high pressure ‘blitz’ defence, which was introduced to the squad by Felix Jones.

Now, the defence is headed up by Joe El-Abd, and it seems that the England players are still get used to the alterations that the Oyonnax Director of Rugby is making. Itoje recognised the need for his side to get back to their dominant defensive line which took them to the Rugby World Cup bronze final, if they want to sustain the waves of incoming Springboks this weekend.

“We haven’t done that on purpose. I’m not sure what the stats would say, but I definitely think we need to be more aggressive. I think we need to be more joined up. Probably today, because of the amount of turnovers, we probably weren’t able to get set to go hard and go as hard as we would like. So the growth and the improvement will definitely be to go harder off the line.”

“Not necessarily prescriptive, but particularly in defence, what we don’t want a game where we knock on, they knock on, we knock on, then allow their backs to run around and do their thing. I think when we talk about structure is making them do what we want them to do. And box them in and in how they attack.”

“But ultimately in those scenarios, we want to be the aggressors. We want to be getting off the line. We want to be loads of bounce, and not really just look to see our game. We want to attack it. And I think when you do that, you often see out games and be more aggressive in that regard.”

Keeping his head up high despite the disappointment of the defeat, Itoje cast his mind forward to the incoming training week and how he plans to rally the troops for the next Test. The England squad are back in camp with preparations underway for the Springboks, and Itoje understands how there are plenty of special moments to look forward to for the next weekend and a battle with the World Champions.

“First of all, you have to be honest and Steve (Borthwick) no doubt is going to be honest with us – he always is – with where we went wrong, where we fell short. That wasn't acceptable and we will have an honest look at that. 

“Once we have done that it is about looking forward to the opportunity and we have an amazing opportunity to do something special, to create a memory for a long time.I’ve been fortunate enough to wear this shirt for a few times.

“I don’t take for granted the opportunity. This is the best rugby stadium in the world. I was looking around during the anthems and I had to pinch myself, even after 80-however many caps. So I had to pinch myself like, that this is a tremendous opportunity. I want, this team wants, to do the shirt proud, to do the fans proud. Next week is an amazing opportunity to do that.”

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