Itoje leans on England after his mother’s death and is back in the XV for Scotland clash
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EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Maro Itoje has been grateful for having England to anchor him while mourning the death of his mother Florence.
She died in December and he accompanied her remains back to Nigeria, where his parents are from, for the funeral.
England coach Steve Borthwick and stand-in captain Jamie George were happy to give Itoje — the captain of England and the British and Irish Lions — all the support he needed. He was late to join the Six Nations training camp last month and picked on the bench for the opening match against Wales last weekend.
Itoje didn’t mind: “This environment … I love so much. Throwing yourself into a tournament like this is perhaps one of the best ways to get your mind off things.”
Since his mother’s death, “It’s been incredibly sad, incredibly emotional, but, all in all, I’m OK and taking each day as it comes,” he told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast on Friday.
“My family are from Delta State (in southern Nigeria) so we had to catch another flight from Lagos to Warri, then we drove to the town (Eku) where my family originate from.
“It was deeply emotional. It was very sad. But at the same time it felt peaceful. It felt that it was the right thing to do to take my mother back to her ancestral home.”
He’s back in the second row against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday for what will be his 99th England cap. Going by her past, his mum would have been there.
He recalled how she came to be a constant presence at his games.
“I remember when I was maybe 15 or 16, I got a call from my academy manager at Saracens telling me they needed me to train with the first team. I was so excited, it was like I had won a million pounds.
“I ran up the stairs. My mum was on the phone and I told her. She looked at me like, ‘Is that meant to be a good thing?’
“But she then became the biggest rugby fan. She would go up and down the country and all around the world. There’s no tour that I’ve been on that she hasn’t been on.
“Whether it’s South Africa, whether it’s Australia, whether it’s New Zealand, England tours, Lions tours, all the cup finals, obviously all the Premiership stuff, she was always there.
“She will be sorely missed.”