'I'll be back through No 10's doors one way or another'

We all know Maro Itoje's leadership qualities in rugby, but he tells Harry Latham-Coyle he has big ambitions off the pitch

- Harry Latham-Coyle

Maro Itoje has a mantra: “Keep the main thing the main thing”. The Saracens and England lock can’t quite recall how he first came across these words of wisdom but in a career now extending into a second decade, they have served him well. For there would be plenty to distract a true lock polymath, from a love of African art, to his charitable efforts with the Pearl Fund and his passion for politics. But his true obsession, he insists, is rugby – and, more specifically, winning.

“Winning is what matters,” the ever considered and compelling Itoje tells The Independent. “It is a great honour to play for England, but I don’t want to be one of those players who just wins loads of caps. I want to be part of winning teams. That has always been my motivation.”

It is a charming evening at England’s training base in Girona. At Itoje’s request, we have hauled two chairs out into the Catalan sun – a long day is nearly at an end, and with less clement weather waiting to welcome him home, the second row is eager to soak up some restorative rays before the autumn begins.

Leviathan limbs unfurling as he reclines, the lock carries an air of contentment. These have been months of personal and professional fulfilment for a player back at the top of his game. The start of the Premiership season brought news of his elevation to the Saracens captaincy, an honour he accepted with gratitude. Weeks earlier, Itoje had made an offer of his own to fiancee Mimi, their two-part Nigerian wedding set for next summer. In the course of this Autumn Nations Series, he will close in on 90 caps in an England shirt.