Thursday 25 February 2016 11:03, UK
James Haskell believes Maro Itoje's humility will ensure he does not have his head turned by his growing list of admirers.
Itoje made an impressive England debut in the 40-9 Six Nations victory over Italy in Rome earlier this month. His strong second-half performance as a replacement strengthened his claim to a place in the starting XV ahead of this weekend's home meeting with Ireland, and Eddie Jones responded by naming the Saracens man in the second row alongside George Kruis.
The 21-year-old came on at blindside flanker in Rome but has played most of his senior rugby in the second row.
He has been tipped by Eddie Jones to be an international for years to come but his team-mates are helping him stay level-headed.
Haskell said: "At the moment he is riding that wave so we will obviously give him banter about being the 'chosen one' and 'people's favourite'.
"He has got more champagne than the whole of France for his man of the matches but we don't have to worry about that kind of ego thing.
"He is very humble, very quiet and he works very hard. The one thing about Maro, he doesn't have an ego at all, which is great.
"We have all been there at one point. One minute you are flavour of the month, next minute you are persona non grata and should be thrown into a skip and never seen again.
"Maro's a great player. He's a bit of a double-edged guy - he's quite quiet normally but he's quite loud on the field. He's trained extremely well.
"The thing with Test rugby is it is very difficult to come in and be unbelievably sensational because it is a step up - that very rarely happens.
"His exposure against Italy was just as the Italians were dipping down so he was able to show his strength and get a couple of good turnovers with the physicality he has.
"I've every confidence he will feature a lot. I don't know when but he is certainly up there to be able to play."
Haskell was once in a similar situation to Itoje where he was considered to be one of England's brightest prospects.
Hailed then as the new Lawrence Dallaglio, he is familiar with the peaks and troughs which accompany an international career.
These days he is seen by Jones as a short to medium-term solution at openside but doubts have been raised outside the camp over his suitability for the number seven jersey.
The 30-year-old added: "If I worried about what people were thinking, all the different opinions, I wouldn't leave the house. I am not worried about that stuff.
"People have all sorts of opinions, but it is only when they haven't met me. I don't like getting written off. It kind of inspires me to come back. But otherwise, I am all right."
