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'I've tested the jaw out' - Itoje details extent of his jaw reconstruction

Itoje details the extent of jaw reconstruction

Maro Itoje has four metal plates in his jaw but insists he is ready for a whatever Ospreys throw at the Saracens lock in tomorrow’s vital European Challenge Cup clash in Wales.

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Itoje broke his jaw against Harlequins a month ago but returned to action with those metal plates in the left side of his jaw and below his mouth in the Premiership win over Wasps last weekend.

Now, he goes head to head with British and Irish Lions roommate Alun Wyn Jones who formed the second row with the England forward in the final two tests of the drawn series in New Zealand.

Itoje is confident he is ready for a match Sarries must win to keep their hopes of a third successive Champions Cup triumph alive and said:

“I tested the jaw out quite a bit before I had any game time and by the Wasps match I was doing my mauling, high and low tackles and carries into contact.”

That wasn’t in my mind at all and if you are thinking like that then you really shouldn’t be playing and you will double your chance of actually getting injured.

Credit: Sarries TV

In a situation like that, my jaw would probably be all right and I would end up injuring something else because I wasn’t fully committed to the cause.

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“If you have that worry it is probably better you don’t play and give yourself another week to get right. Fortunately, I didn’t feel like that and was fit to go last weekend. “

Itoje and Billy Vunipola returned from injury against Wasps and now Lion and Wales wing Liam Williams, having recovered from the groin injury he suffered on international duty in the Autumn tests, is in the Sarries back line in Swansea.

Itoje knows that Williams will relish the chance to play against his Welsh teammates an expects something special from the former Scarlets favourite.

“ Liam is back and he has that X-factor and is a fantastic player. He has quality in abundance and is one of the most naturally gifted rugby players, great in the air, quick and deceptively strong for a man who is so thin,” said Itoje.

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“He is a great addition to the squad.”

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J
JW 4 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

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