It’s been quite the few weeks for Maro Itoje.

Named British and Irish Lions captain and then tying the knot with wife Mimi, it would be hard to script a better summer if he leads his pack to a series win in Australia.

In fact, it’s been quite the year – one that includes being named captain of Saracens and England, as well as his marriage and recent appointment – the 30-year-old admits it’s been a whirlwind.

“It’s been incredibly significant,” he said. “But when you go through it, you don’t really have time to reflect. Hopefully in the off-season I can relax.”

Our interview took place in a barbershop, a fitting metaphor for renewal.

Itoje has gone through an image change in the last couple of years, cutting off the dreadlocks he’d grown since 2014.

‘Impermanence is a fact of life’ was the quote that accompanied the social media post of his cut.

“I can’t remember who I heard say it, it may have been Will Smith,” he tries to recall. “I just felt it was time. The end of a World Cup cycle. I thought it was time to start a new leaf.”

Itoje is one of rugby union’s stars. Sitting opposite him you feel at ease but standing up, you realise why he is feared on the field.

Born, raised and still living in north London, despite representing England, Itoje has always been vocal about his pride of his Nigerian heritage.

His appointment as Lions captain was significant. The first black person to hold this position.

“It shows the growth in the game, I think it shows where the game is going,” he said.

“Back in 1980, there probably weren’t that many black people playing rugby.

“Now, if you look across the Top 14 or Premiership, there’s an increase in number in that regard, and the game is becoming more and more accessible.

“And we want rugby to grow. We want rugby to integrate itself in different communities and all that kind of stuff. And it’s happening. We’d probably like it to accelerate, and that’s what we want.

“So that’s a big responsibility on myself. But the most important thing is it’s not necessarily semantics in that regard. The most important thing is that the team wins and the team is successful.”

‘I’m ready’ – Itoje on leading the Lions

It’s a remarkable journey for someone whose household saw no talk of rugby growing up. That’s changed now, of course.

Itoje is a five-time Premiership winner. A three-time winner of the Six Nations. A Rugby World Cup runner-up in 2019. His Lions record stands at a drawn series in New Zealand in 2017 and a 2-1 series defeat to South Africa in 2021.

But despite all that, does he ever get nervous?

“I do get nervous!” he admitted. “I get nervous before every game, regardless of who we’re playing.

“Saracens spent a year in the Championship playing against students and plumbers, I was still nervous.”

The plumbers and students will be switched for the likes of Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight come July 19. The nerves will be elevated as Itoje leads the Lions out for the first Test in Brisbane.

“Obviously the magnitude of the game will be so much higher than a lot of what I’ve done and experienced before, but I feel like I’m ready.

“I feel like I’m ready to do the role. I think I’m ready to do the job and I gain confidence from the quality of coaches we have, the quality of support staff we have and the quality of personnel we have within our squad.

“Of course, I think you would be a little bit worried if I said I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Itoje picks out Steve Borthwick, Brad Barrett, Owen Farrell, Billy and Mako Vunipola as some of those who have influenced him as leaders along the way.

“I guess with leadership, it’s not necessarily about copying and pasting from everyone else. I think everyone is a unique being and I guess my approach is to do it in a way that aligns with my personality and is authentic to me,” said Itoje.

“I don’t think I set out to do any of those things [becoming Saracens, England and Lions captain]. You obviously have dreams and aspirations, and you think, wouldn’t it be cool to do this, wouldn’t it be cool to do that? And it all kind of happened.

“Perhaps now, it seems as if to some it may feel like it was always going to happen, it was a natural progression. For large parts of my career, I didn’t captain anyone, I didn’t captain anything. So it wasn’t always as obvious as it may seem now.

“But it’s just a blessing. And I feel very honoured and humbled to be in this position. And I feel that it’s now my job to throw all of myself at the task at hand, which is now this Lions tour.”

‘A massive part of my life’ – Itoje on his faith journey

Away from rugby, Itoje’s says his faith as a Christian is of huge importance to him, as well as his faith in his football team.

“My faith is a massive part of my life. I’ve always been a Christian. I was baptised when I was a little kid,” he said.

“Maybe two to three years ago anyway, I decided to really double down on my faith and I wanted to have a closer relationship with God. And I began to take steps to try and achieve that. So as with all these things, it’s a journey.

“It’s something that is deepening as time goes on and I want to dedicate my life to that. And a married man, so that’s a blessing.”

His faith in Arsenal was tested last year, but the north Londoner recounts one of his earliest Arsenal memories, exiting the Champions League in 2008 against Liverpool, a result which brought him to tears at his Harrow School boarding house.

“I can’t let Arsenal let me cry anymore! This year was close, we had so much hope but that’s life and sport. Next year is our year!”

After his haircut was finished, it was photo time for Itoje. His continued partnership with Under Armour, a relationship started in 2021, is one he says goes beyond the norm.

“Probably what is the difference between Under Armour and other companies or brands or whatever is the support that they give me away from the field and how much they care about the athlete holistically as opposed to just come here, do this, just come here, take a couple of photos.

“It’s the care, it’s the 360 holistic care. So whether that’s off-field recovery, they’re super big in recovery. I have the ability to talk to their experts in recovery and they’ve assessed my sleep, my recovery protocols, and they’ve helped me probably become more holistic in that sense.”

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.