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Fresh from captaining the British & Irish Lions to a series victory, Maro Itoje has joined forces with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for a fascinating conversation about leadership, pressure and the mentality required to succeed at the very highest level.
Winning is one thing. Staying at the top when everyone expects you to do it again is an entirely different challenge. It's something Maro Itoje and Mikel Arteta know better than most, having both enjoyed significant success in their respective sports. For Itoje, the past year has been one of the defining periods of his career, reaching 100 England caps and leading the British & Irish Lions to a memorable series victory. Arteta, meanwhile, has overseen Arsenal's return to the summit of English football, building a team capable of competing for the biggest honours. While their sporting backgrounds might be different, both find themselves facing the same question: how do you maintain the standards, hunger and mentality that brought you success in the first place?
Brought together by Under Armour in North London, the England and Saracens captain sat down with the Arsenal manager to discuss their experiences of leadership, the demands of elite competition and the importance of building a winning environment. The meeting wasn't restricted to a traditional sit-down conversation either, with the pair spending time on the basketball court and playing table tennis as they explored the similarities between their approaches. One leads from the rugby pitch, making decisions in the heat of battle, while the other operates from the touchline, shaping the culture and direction of an entire football club. Despite those differences, their conversation highlighted just how much the two sports have in common when it comes to managing people, handling expectation and continuing to improve.
For Itoje, one of the biggest lessons from his career has been understanding that great leadership doesn't mean carrying the entire responsibility of a team on your shoulders. As captain of England and the Lions, he is often the individual supporters look towards during the biggest moments, but he believes the most successful sides are those that develop leadership throughout the squad. Having a trusted group of senior players capable of making decisions, challenging standards and supporting one another is essential, particularly in international rugby, where circumstances can change in seconds and there isn't always time to look towards the coaching box for an answer. It's a philosophy that has become increasingly important as Itoje has developed from one of the game's outstanding individual performers into a leader responsible for getting the best out of those around him.
"I'm a big believer that nothing great is achieved by one person alone," Itoje explained. "So, whilst I am the leader of the team, there's a group of senior leaders who are making decisions, a group of senior leaders who are supporting and who I can lean on or who I can ask for help in the heat of the battle."
It's an approach that Arteta clearly shares, even if his responsibilities as a manager are different. For the Arsenal boss, leadership begins with creating an environment in which players feel comfortable, supported and motivated to reach their full potential. Building that culture requires trust, clear expectations and an understanding that every individual contributes to the wider success of the team. As Arteta explained during their conversation, his purpose is to create an environment where players can fulfil their potential and dreams while feeling a genuine sense of belonging. Whether it's an Arsenal dressing room or a Lions squad preparing for a Test match, both leaders recognise that success ultimately comes from the collective rather than the individual, and that the strongest teams are those where people feel empowered to take responsibility.
Another important theme throughout the conversation was the work that goes unnoticed long before supporters arrive at a stadium. For Itoje, leadership isn't simply about delivering a team talk, making a crucial decision during a match or producing an inspirational performance when the pressure is on. Those moments are important, but they are only made possible by the standards established throughout the week. Training habits, discipline, preparation and the willingness to challenge teammates all play a part in determining how a team performs when it matters most. The best leaders, in his view, are those who consistently raise the level of everyone around them through their everyday actions, rather than relying on occasional moments of inspiration.
That philosophy is especially relevant when considering the environments both men operate in. Itoje has spent much of his career with Saracens and England, where the expectation to compete for trophies and perform on the biggest stages is constant. Arteta has faced a similar challenge at Arsenal, working to establish a culture capable of sustaining success over an extended period rather than delivering isolated results. Both understand that winning teams aren't built exclusively on talent, but on the standards players and coaches are prepared to uphold when nobody is watching. It is the consistency of those behaviours, from how individuals prepare to how they respond to setbacks, that often separates teams capable of winning once from those capable of challenging year after year.
Pressure was another subject on which the two leaders found common ground. Whether it's captaining the Lions in a decisive Test match or managing Arsenal with a league title on the line, both operate in environments where every performance is analysed, every decision scrutinised and expectations rarely diminish. Rather than treating that pressure as something to avoid, Itoje and Arteta see it as a responsibility that comes with competing at the highest level. For Arteta, the demands placed on elite performers should never be greater than the expectations they place on themselves, and that internal motivation plays a crucial role in determining how individuals respond when the stakes are at their highest.
"Pressure comes with expectations, with demands, which have to be your own demands," Arteta explained. "No one else should put more demands than you do. You have to feel really passionate about what you want to do."
It's a mentality that resonates with Itoje, whose career has been shaped by some of rugby's most demanding occasions. From international championships to European finals and Lions tours, he has experienced both the rewards of success and the disappointment of falling short. Those setbacks, as both men discussed, are often where the most important lessons emerge. Learning how to respond to adversity, remain accountable and keep improving after difficult moments is just as important as knowing how to celebrate a victory. Neither sees success as a guarantee that the next challenge will be easier; instead, it creates another opportunity to test themselves and the standards they have established.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the meeting was its timing. Both men have recently achieved significant milestones, but neither appears interested in treating those achievements as the end of the journey. For Itoje, attention will increasingly turn towards England's preparations for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, where the expectations surrounding the national side and its captain will only continue to grow. Arteta faces his own challenge of building on Arsenal's success while ensuring his players retain the motivation and discipline required to compete at the top. The circumstances may be different, but the underlying challenge remains the same: maintaining the hunger to improve when you've already experienced what it feels like to win.
By bringing Itoje and Arteta together, Under Armour provided an opportunity for two leaders from different sporting backgrounds to challenge one another's thinking and exchange experiences that might otherwise remain within their own environments. For rugby supporters, the conversation offers a valuable insight into the mindset of a player who has already achieved an enormous amount in the game but continues to look for ways to develop, both as an individual and as a captain. It also demonstrates that some of the most important principles in elite sport extend well beyond any particular discipline, with trust, resilience, accountability and collective responsibility playing a central role in successful teams.
For Itoje, the message is particularly clear. Leadership isn't about being the loudest voice in the dressing room or the individual who receives the most recognition when things go well. It's about creating an environment where others can thrive, maintaining high standards when nobody is watching and understanding that the collective will always be more important than any individual.
Winning might be the ultimate goal, but for leaders like Itoje and Arteta, the real challenge is finding a way to keep doing it.