{"id":638364,"date":"2026-06-14T14:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T14:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/638364\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T14:36:13","slug":"england-captain-maro-itoje-has-set-his-retirement-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/638364\/","title":{"rendered":"England captain Maro Itoje has set his retirement date"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>England captain Maro Itoje has opened up on when he plans to walk away from professional rugby, revealing he already has a retirement age in mind despite remaining one of the most influential players in the world game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2b50 Save us to your\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4bziEdo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google Favourites<\/a>\u00a0for nonstop RUCK content!<\/p>\n<p>The Saracens lock, who has won multiple PREM titles, Lions caps and become one of England\u2019s most recognisable stars, believes there is only one more Rugby World Cup left in his career. <\/p>\n<p>With questions also growing over whether he will feature in England\u2019s summer Nations Championship campaign due to workload concerns, Itoje is already looking ahead to how and when he wants his remarkable career to end.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/channel\/AbYd2l05pp1bM_Ix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Join RUCK\u2019s Instagram broadcast channel <\/a>and get the latest rugby news straight to your phone.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to\u00a0The Times\u00a0in July 2025, England captain Maro Itoje revealed he already has a clear end date in mind for his glittering rugby career.<\/p>\n<p>The Saracens lock intends to retire at the age of 35, meaning the curtain is likely to come down on one of English rugby\u2019s greatest careers in 2029.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to go out on my terms\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Itoje has never been one to do things by accident, and his retirement plan is no different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I\u2019m 35. That\u2019s a healthy age to retire. It\u2019s a good age to throw yourself at a new challenge and it gives me a good four years to really dip into the rugby.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3NhQn1c\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tickets for the Barbarians v Wales double-header at Allianz Stadium on 27 June are available now, with prices starting from just \u00a320 for adults and \u00a310 for under-16s. Click here to secure your seat.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want to leave rugby when I\u2019m clinging on. I want to go out on my terms, while I\u2019m fit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a typically measured approach from a player who has spent his career setting the highest standards on and off the field.<\/p>\n<p>Summer break could force England absence<\/p>\n<p>Before then, however, Itoje may be set for an extended spell away from Test rugby.<\/p>\n<p>The 31-year-old has been left out of England\u2019s latest training squad, with head coach Steve Borthwick and the RFU seriously considering resting their captain for some or all of this summer\u2019s Nations Championship fixtures against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina. <\/p>\n<p>Itoje has carried a huge workload over the past two seasons, having led both England and the British &amp; Irish Lions while also dealing with injuries and personal challenges away from the game.<\/p>\n<p>One final World Cup mission<\/p>\n<p>If everything goes to plan, Itoje will head into the 2027 Rugby World Cup as one of England\u2019s senior leaders before playing his final seasons at Saracens.<\/p>\n<p>For a player who burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old sensation and has gone on to become one of the defining figures of his generation, 2029 suddenly doesn\u2019t feel very far away.<\/p>\n<p>LATEST RUGBY NEWS<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England captain Maro Itoje has opened up on when he plans to walk away from professional rugby, revealing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-638364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}