Where Would I Be Without You? featuring Lucy
Stimpson- Maynard from the album Where Would I Be Without You? recorded and produced by Ross Gill

Maro Itoje is the England Rugby Union captain and now also the captain of the British and Irish Lions who are touring Australia.
Below is an extract from an interview he had recently with BBC News.
When asked about how religion fitted into his tactics, former Labour spin guru Alastair Campbell famously said “We don’t do God”.Itoje, who was introduced to Campbell by England team manager Richard Hill as a youngster and remains in touch, definitely does.

At his unveiling as Lions captain in May, he revealed he had missed Bible study to be there.
When he was promoted to England captain in January, his pastor was one of six people he told before the public announcement., external
Asked about the long journey to both posts, Itoje has a simple explanation: “God’s timing is always the best time.” “In the last two or three years I have made a conscious decision to double down in that regard,” he tells BBC Sport. “I was probably a lukewarm Christian for a large part of my life. I was probably someone who went to church but was not really living the principles or values of it that deeply, but I have always been a believer.”The humility that I have tried to embody throughout my life definitely comes from knowing that everything I have has been a gift, not by my own doing, but by the guy upstairs.”
By Itoje’s high standards and own admission, that humility wasn’t always present on previous Lions tours. He has described his 22-year-old self, who won over the Lions fans’ sea of red in New Zealand in 2017, as “a little bit brash and a bit naive”. This time around, at the very centre of the hype and hoopla, he is determined to keep his calm and routine. “I try to have a daily amount of time that I spend, whether that is reading the Bible or praying, ideally both,” he explains. “I also try and do Bible study once or twice a week at least.”I am going to try and maintain the system I have over in Australia, with Zoom and Whatsapp video calls.”

Itoje has his philosophy and his peace. “Sport is unpredictable, you don’t know how things are going to transpire,” he says. “Sometimes you can deserve to win and lose, and sometimes you can deserve to lose and win – there is not necessarily rhyme or reason for that. “You have to just stay as consistent as possible through your actions and hope, through it all, you end up in the place you are supposed to be.”
Faith is just one part of a hinterland as wide as the outback. Itoje describes himself as having a “portfolio existence” off the pitch.The Akoje Gallery, which Itoje founded in 2023, is a prominent part “There is a commercial aspect to it – we want to sell art – but we also want to propel and promote art, particularly African art,” he says.
The breadth of his interests and the depth of his thought have triggered suspicion in some. Former England coach Eddie Jones publicly doubted whether Itoje was captaincy material. Jones claimed Itoje was “very inward-looking” and lacked influence over his team-mates. Itoje politely, but firmly, disagreed. So far, events seem to support the younger man.
Itoje’s clear, calm 80-minute leadership carried England to a second-place finish in this year’s Six Nations. At Saracens, footage of his pep talks show that they are passionate, canny and expletive-free.

Quote of the week