It was a privilege to watch Maro Itoje in action for England on a Triple Crown-winning day at Twickenham.
The 21-year-old Saracens lock topped just about every chart for attacking and defensive statistics as England bounded a step closer to a first Grand Slam in 13 years.
Itoje carried on his sheer nuisancery [we’re making that a word] at the lineout as he stole two Welsh darts and wrecked heads all afternoon.
He made a number of strong carries and, at one stage, popped out a perfect offload despite having a couple of Welshmen grappling him.
Driven on by Eddie Jones, England have been the best team in the Six Nations. They have tailored their tactics for each match and come out on top.
This competition is all about momentum and they got a narrow win by any means necessary against Scotland. They thundered Italy at the breakdown and counter-rucked them to death. Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton were brutally nullified and the Irish lineout was successfully targeted.
Against Wales, they flooded the breakdown and forced penalties. Once they got ahead on the scoreboard, Wales were forced to come out of their shell and England went wide. It was a close call in the end but they survived a late flurry.
Amid those latest three wins has been Itoje. He missed the Scottish game but has forced himself on this tournament thereafter.
Man of the Match in only his 2nd start for England…..@maroitoje ladies & gentlemen 👏 #carrythemhome:https://t.co/oHUfwWX8s6
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 12, 2016
In his first three Test matches, two starts and a sub appearance [186 minutes], he has landed 34 tackles, stolen three lineouts, forced three turnovers, made 18 carries and beat four defenders with ball in hand.
Given that we are now a little over a year away from the Lions tour to New Zealand, looking ahead to 2017 comes naturally.
With further Test match experience, Itoje could be the Lions’ very own Brodie Retallick.
Taking an Irish look at potential partnerships – linking Itoje up with Iain Henderson is a frightening prospect. However, there is another Irish lock pressing his case to start against Scotland after a couple of seriously impressive cameos.
Ultan Dillane made his home debut for Ireland and carried on where he left off against England. The Tralee native, and Connacht lock, is pure brute force.
Perhaps it is due to his age [21] but Dillane carries and takes contact like a man with no lingering regard for his health.
22 metres made off five carries with another clean break and defender beaten, to prove Twickenham was no fluke. His tackling drew gasps from the crowd and breath from every Italian he connected with.
It was hard not to look ahead to the next decade and Itoje doing battle with Dillane in white and green. Team them up in red and we could have our next Alun Wyn Jones-Paul O’Connell partnership for 2017, 2021 and, while we are at it, 2025.
