England’s Nigerian-born rugby team’s captain, Maro Itoje has been credited with a very emotional and inspiring speech that helped the squad pull off a historic victory over New Zealand.
Sports247 gathered that the England rugby squad made the best of an evening blessed with Itoje’s ability to take his teammates back in time, as the team’s skipper reminded them of their days of dreaming big while still kids.
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The details and impact of Itoje’s speech were revealed by the team’s coach, Steve Borthwick, who said he was amazed when the skipper spoke about how he had ‘dreamed about’ beating the All Blacks one day.
It eventually happened at Twickenham for the first time since 2012, as two drop goals from fly-half George Ford earned England a 10th straight win overall.
The victory is regarded as the biggest for Borthwick since becoming England’s coach, but the gaffer disclosed afterwards that the players were inspired by Itoje’s speech.
Borthwick disclosed in the wake of the historic game, “I heard Maro address the team. He talked about when the players were 14 or 15 year old boys.
“(They were) dreaming of playing for England and dreaming about playing at Allianz Stadium against teams like New Zealand. Dreaming of beating teams like New Zealand, scoring tries, contributing to great wins, celebrating with the fans.
“He asked the players to go out and play with that intent of a 14 or 15-year-old with a dream. The boys took those dreams onto the pitch and they were outstanding.”
