I have never been a fan of Itoje. But last night he gave a master class in lock play. Great energy, skill and the pace of a backrower. By comparison, both Whitelock and Retallick looked like left overs from a bye-gone era. I wonder if he is indicative the future for locks. The necessary lineout and scrumming skills of a lock combined with the ability to play an up tempo game in the fashion of a back rower. Maybe the old lock version typified by John Eales is no longer relevant to the way the game is evolving.
Of our current locks, I'd include all of Coleman, Arnold, Simmons, and probably Rodda as Eales-type players. Proper lineout practitioners, good at scrum time and mostly good at passive defense (by which I mean waiting for the ball runner to come to them), but largely mostly quite poor runners of the ball and not providing any real threat at the breakdown. Itoje does it all, including being very active in rush defense and always a threat over the ball at the breakdown. I would say, Peter Stef du Toit is another who can do most things.
Do we have anyone who could play the type of game on display by Itoje. I don't think so. Maybe Mat Philip would be closest, and Holloway also has some of those characteristics when playing in the second row. Unfortunately, when I look at the talent coming through in Hockings, Blyth and Swain, I think they all look more like Eales than Itoje.
Maybe it's time for a rethink by our coaches on the type of player we want our locks to be.
EDIT : It occurs to me that maybe the reason I have been impressed with Fergus Lee-Warner at the Force is because he is more of the Itoje type of player than an Eales type.
