Warren Gatland will warn Maro Itoje to expect New Zealand to target him on this summer’s Lions tour. The Lions’ head coach believes shutting down the best young forward in European rugby will be a tactical and psychological objective for the world champions in the three-Test series.

At 22, Itoje is the youngest member of Gatland’s 41-strong squad and has only 12 England caps. Though his potential is huge, his club and country career has mostly been characterised by success, and no Six Nations opponent, with the arguable exception of Ireland in Dublin in March, has been able to smother him.

Gatland expects Itoje to shine in New Zealand but says: “He could be a player they may target, and I’ll be interested to see how he responds to that. They might see him as potentially a key for the Lions and see if they can shut him down, or physically dominate him. He’s going to have to learn from that.

“New Zealand sides sometimes go on with a different focus or a different approach. Everyone talks about their ability to play rugby, quality rugby, but when they need to they can mix it up as well. They can change your focus and turn that into a bit of a dogfight.