FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Six Nations Championship - England Training - Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain - February 23, 2024 England's Maro Itoje during training Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File Photo
(Reuters) - England lock and Saracens captain Maro Itoje said it was unfortunate that former head coach Eddie Jones had questioned his leadership qualities in a book, saying the player was an "inward-looking" person who drove himself rather than others.
Jones, who coached England between 2015 and 2022, had said he was not sure Itoje was a future England captain in his 2021 book 'Leadership: Lessons from My Life in Rugby,' published while Itoje was playing under him in the national team.
"He is going to be one of the great players, but Maro is very inward-looking... he doesn’t usually influence people off the field,” Jones wrote.
"I might be wrong, but I am not sure Maro is a future England captain."
Itoje, who was co-captain when England won the U-20 World Championship in 2014 and was named as Saracens captain in August, said Jones had made a wrong diagnosis of who he was as a person.
"I guess it was unfortunate that your coach would say something like that about you, but in life not everyone is going to see the things that way you see it," British media quoted Itoje as saying on Wednesday.
"Even if it’s wrong, some people will come to a different conclusion. That is part of the parcel... I just wanted to stay consistent to who I believed I was."
The 29-year-old made his England debut in 2016 and has earned 84 test caps, scoring six tries and providing five try assists.
Itoje is yet to captain England, with his friend and Saracens teammate Jamie George leading England at this year's Six Nations after Owen Farrell stepped away from international rugby.
"I’m not commenting on another man’s job. I have barely started this one. I want to give my best to this and see where we go," Itoje said.
Jones quit as Australia's head coach last year and took over as the head coach of Japan, who are set to face England in November.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
