Maro Itoje believes that more players could follow his lead and take a break from Test rugby with the England captain feeling refreshed after a summer off.
Itoje was rested from England’s Nations Championship fixtures against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina after a year of significant physical and emotional strain on and off the pitch.
Steve Borthwick first broached the idea with his skipper after the Six Nations, with the 31-year-old lock initially needing persuading that it was the right course of action.
But having been back at Saracens for a first full preseason since 2014 ahead of the new Gallagher Prem season, Itoje would encourage others to consider the virtues of a break.
“In many ways it is a huge blessing, but since I have been involved with England, I’ve played in pretty much every campaign,” Itoje explained. “With Saracens, for a large period of that time when we were a top team in Europe so we were going deep into Europe, and deep in the Premiership and that has also helped with Lions tours and selections.
“I have been very fortunate to have had what I have had. But the cost of that is that you don’t tend to have a break or the breaks that you do have are very short. I do think things like this are helpful.
“The other way to get around it is being injured. If you are injured, you get those mental breaks and mental rest, but it comes at a cost of your injury. Where I have been fortunate this time around is I have had a break, but physically I am healthy, so I have been able to rest, then have a full pre-season more or less to work on myself and my body and be around the team. I think that has been a good thing.
‘It is hard to have a blanket approach to this thing. It is very much a case-by-case. Different players carry mental load differently. It could be mental, it could be physical. So it is very much a case by case, but I think players who have the blessing and the fortune to be at the top of the game for a period of time, I guess in order for them to keep at the top of the game a proactive approach works like this one rather than a reactive approach.
“I would argue that the mental recovery was far more significant than physically. Physically, I’m fine, and I was fine at the end of the season. Some of the ailments and niggles that I had in previous seasons, they’ve pretty much gone away. I feel very good for it. Very good. I don’t regret it at all.”
Itoje intentionally switched off during England’s July fixtures, choosing not to watch the games live. He kept contact with the squad at a limited level – though bumped into them at the airport on their way back from South Africa.
The England captain was pleased to see the side end their losing run with back-to-back wins over Fiji and Argentina.
“It was weird [watching]. It was very, very strange,” Itoje said. “It was difficult to do, but when you’re supposed to take a break, then if you’re living and breathing every moment of a game… So I actually didn’t watch any of the games live.
“I was delighted with the last two results. Obviously the Fiji game was a big win and in the Argentina game they showed a lot of character away from home. I was delighted with how they went and the challenge and opportunity for us now is to build on that as we go forward.”
Saracens open their Prem season with a tough trip to Leicester on Sunday 27 September.
