Maro Itoje: Saracens and England lock challenges rugby’s status quo

After the recent expansion of the Formula One fan-base, driven by Netflix’s Drive to Survive docu-series, Itoje reckons that rugby too can “reach new territories” and “engage with those outside the stereotypical rugby world”.

While World Rugby is attempting to conquer the USA with successive men’s and women’s World Cups, there are no immediate plans to create Formula One-esque interest in the sport.

The Saracens man is adamant that his sport is more entertaining than the premier motorsport competition and wishes to see change so it is viewed by more people.

“There’s no way you can tell me Formula One is more exciting than rugby. It is not,” the forward told the Daily Mirror. “Yet it’s definitely packaged better.

“We need to cross-connect and reach new territories. Engage with those outside the stereotypical rugby world. Be more imaginative. Test the waters.

“If rugby is able to do that you will see a growth in the sport, a growth in engagement, a growth in participation.

“If the status quo remains, we’ll get the same results. You can’t expect anything different.”

Rugby’s growth is limited by the fact the majority of professional leagues are ring-fenced, meaning promotion and relegation are non-existent.

This means that there are fewer top-flight rugby teams per nation than say football, where even lower division sides have a large market, loyal fan base and regularly sell-out games.

Just 4,672 fans were present for Sale Sharks’ home fixture versus Bristol Bears in the Champions Cup round-of-16 as proof of Itoje’s idea that rugby needs to increase engagement outside of its usual markets.

“The main stakeholders in control of the game really do need to take this matter seriously,” said Itoje. “They need to see this as