England's new second-row superstars Maro Itoje and George Kruis on butlers, beefing up... and the Bard

As the dust settles on England's Grand Slam triumph, Maro Itoje and George Kruis are back to business with Saracens.

The locks were two of Eddie Jones's star performers during the RBS 6 Nations and have even been tipped to start together for the Lions in New Zealand next summer.

Before Friday night's Aviva Premiership trip to Bath, the pair discuss how life has changed since picking up their winners' medals at the Stade de France.

England's George Kruis (left) and Maro Itoje (right) pose together at Saracens' training base in St Albans

The locks and 'good mates' were two of Eddie Jones' star England performers during the RBS 6 Nations

As a second-row pairing, you're England's Grand Slam double act. Do you dream of becoming the next Martin Johnson and Ben Kay, or Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield?

George Kruis: It would be nice but we've only played together for a year. We can't look ahead too much. We're just the lucky two at the moment. We've got the pretty one and the ugly one. Maro likes his poetry (Itoje rolls his eyes). Thou art this, thou art that!

Maro Itoje: People think I'm William Shakespeare now. The last poem I wrote was over a year ago!

I'm 21 and George is 26. We have only been playing together for a year, so individually and collectively there is still a lot to come. We complement each other well.

Johnson and Kay were Leicester team-mates. Is it an advantage to play together for club and country?

Itoje: The biggest advantage is at line-out time. The analysis and reading movements; if some jumpers do this, you have to do that.

That takes time to create. We've been playing together for a while now and I think we've created that relationship. George is a smart guy and runs the line-out for Saracens and England.

Kruis: It's a team thing. You prepare a plan for the line-out group, based on the players you've got and the players you're going to face. I get on the laptop after dinner!

The duo admit to having a good understanding at the line-out in terms of analysis and reading movements

If you, George, are line-out guru, what does Maro bring to the table?

Kruis: Maro plays over the ball like a flanker. That's probably the difference between us. We're around the same weight — around 18st 8lb — and both lucky enough to have a good engine.

He's also very physical, carries himself well and doesn't pick and choose when to deliver.

Itoje: When George gets a little tired, I often hear a shout in my ear telling me to keep going (laughs).

Itoje (centre) takes on the French defence as fly-half team-mate George Ford (right) watches on 

You will face plenty of your Red Rose colleagues at the Rec. Was it hard to adapt back to the Saracens routine after the Six Nations high in Paris?

Kruis: It can be quite emotionally draining to show up on Monday after the events in Paris. But coming back to a club like Sarries, where it means so much to us, is pretty seamless.

It's been an emotional high — definitely the best thing to happen in my career — but we realise we have a massive task in the next nine weeks. We're on for some big trophies. 

We're really proud of what the lads have done for the past eight weeks while we have been at the Six Nations, so it's only fair that we pay them back by showing up.

(From left to right) Anthony Watson, Kruis and Itoje sing their country's national anthem prior to facing Italy

This time last year, Maro had only made a handful of senior appearances. George, what are your memories of him coming through the academy as a teenager?

Itoje: I was that skinny lanky kid in the corner!

Kruis: When I was young, I put on two-and-a-half stone in one year! When Maro came in at 18-stone level, he was pretty much straight in with the boys. 

At Saracens, we've got this ability to extract every bit of potential out of the players we bring in.

Some guys haven't gone so well at other clubs, but they come here and flourish. It's a good trait we have as a club.

Itoje: Things have moved on pretty quickly — the important thing is to live in the moment and not look too far ahead. If you look too far ahead, you lose sight of the here and now.

Kruis (left) and Itoje (right) pose with the Six Nations Trophy and the Triple Crown after winning in Paris

Because you spend so much time together on the pitch, do you still see each other outside of rugby?

Kruis: When we get the chance, we do. But Maro lives a bit further in town than me. He lives in a big mansion, a five-bed penthouse suite overlooking the Thames (laughs).

Itoje: George thinks he's funny. He has some awful gags.

Kruis: He orders his butler to get him a hot chocolate, but sometimes the hot chocolate gets cold by the time the butler has carried it from the West wing to the East wing!

No, he's a very grounded lad. It's like with any other player — we are just good mates.

The pair have discussed how life has changed since picking up their winners' medals at the Stade de France