Maro Itoje is set to join a select group when he wins his 100th England cap in Saturday's Six Nations clash at home to Ireland, but the Red Rose skipper said he might have missed the milestone without learning to manage the "emotional turmoil" of his early rugby career.
A decade on from his test debut, the 31-year-old Saracens lock will become just the ninth man to make 100 appearances for England when he leads the team out for their third-round Championship encounter with Ireland at Twickenham.
"At the start of my career I probably didn't have a full understanding of how to regulate the emotions leading up to a test match," said Itoje on the eve of the game.
"I remember thinking 'I'm not sure if I can do this every week' because I was putting myself through emotional turmoil.
"The game's a huge occasion but obviously building so much emotional energy towards it, I probably would have had a heart attack or stroke if I didn't change my prep."
Maro Itoje is set to make his 100th England Rugby appearance 👏
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 17, 2026
Head coach Steve Borthwick has named his match day squad to face Ireland at @allianz_stad this Saturday.@O2 | #WearTheRose
Itoje, who also led the British and Irish Lions on their victorious tour of Australia last year, added: "To reach 100 (England) caps feels amazing. I'm full of pride, full of happiness, joy and excitement. It's obviously a great milestone to reach and hit."
But there is a touch od sadness too following the death last month of Itoje's mother, Florence, who loyally supported her son both home and abroad.
"In many ways it's a great milestone, but in many ways it will be a little bit sad that my mother is not there to witness this," said Itoje.
'FANTASTIC POLLOCK'
England go into Saturday's match following a 31-20 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield that ended a 12-game winning streak, dented their Six Nations title hopes and stopped all talk of a Grand Slam.
Ireland arrive at Twickenham buoyed by a run of five wins in their last six matches against England and Kevin Sinfield, one of Borthwick's assistant coaches, knows the home side cannot afford a repeat of their sluggish start in Edinburgh.
"You can't stand at the start of a test match and be 17-0 behind and expect to claw your way back," said Sinfield. "We need to be better this week.
"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out that physically, at the start of last weekend, we weren't where we needed to be. We're all responsible for that."
Henry Pollock will make his first England start against Ireland, following seven previous appearances off the bench, after being selected at No 8.
The dynamic 21-year-old has already made his presence felt, with Sinfield insisting: "I've never worked with anybody like Henry before. I've never played with anybody like that.
"Not at his age, to bring what he brings. Behind the bravado, there's a fantastic rugby player there.
"The Henry Pollock we've had for 25, 30 minutes of previous tests, we need that from the start and just to get him going. I love working with him."