(CNN) When Maro Itoje walks into a crowded university lecture room, nobody realizes they are in the presence of one of rugby's next superstars.
Despite his tall, muscular physique, Europe's player of the year goes largely unnoticed by his course mates at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where he is studying for a politics degree.
"Unfortunately, my university experience is a little bit different to the standard student," the England powerhouse told CNN.
"Honestly, I don't think many of them know who I am. Obviously I'm fairly discreet. I think some lecturers and tutors know, but generally I don't think they know me. It makes life a little bit easier."
England rugby's next big thing
Rugby's rising star Maro Itoje will return to international duty as England seeks to defend its Six Nations title.
Itoje is only in his fourth season of professional rugby, but he is already considered one of the world's best players.
Growing up, he proved himself to be a natural sportsman, excelling at rugby, football, basketball and shotput.
His size and athleticism make the second-row forward a natural lineout target.
Itoje has also proven his power in the tackle and breakdown areas, something he attributes to throwing the shotput as a teenager.
Itoje came off the bench to make his England debut in the 2016 Six Nations clash with Italy. He was man of the match against Wales later in the tournament as unbeaten England won its first title since 2011.
Itoje played every minute of England's 3-0 whitewash over Australia in June 2016 -- the first time it had won an away series against the Wallabies. However, injury ruled him out of the November international series.
With his club Saracens, Itoje has won two English Premiership titles, the European Champions Cup and the LV= Cup. Here, he celebrates European glory with fellow England lock George Kruis.
Itoje has quickly established himself as a core member of Saracens' squad since making his senior debut in the 2013-14 season.
Saracens' defense coach Paul Gustard has said Itoje could be as good as former England captain Martin Johnson. The 2003 World Cup winner also wore the No. 4 shirt.
On and off the rugby field, the man known as "Super Maro" is different to most.
At the age of just 22, he's already achieved more than most rugby players do in a lifetime. In his first year of international rugby, Itoje won a Six Nations grand slam with England and played every game in his country's historic unbeaten tour of Australia.
The imposing 6-foot 5-inch, 116 kg (256-pound) second-row forward was also named breakthrough player of the year at the 2016 World Rugby awards.
But quiet and understated in person -- sporting the distinctive short dreadlocks usually hidden under his protective headgear -- he brings a scholarly presence to rugby's locker rooms. As well as politics, Itoje's list of interests includes poetry, opera, and art.
Education first
When Itoje first took up rugby as a schoolboy, his parents -- Nigerian immigrants living in London -- didn't know what to expect. In their eyes, he was "just a little boy running round, burning some energy, blowing off some steam."
"I don't think they ever thought I was going to be a professional athlete," he admits.
2017 Six Nations guide
After the embarrassment of becoming the first host nation to be eliminated at the group stage of a World Cup, England bounced back from a disappointing 2015 by winning all five matches and securing its first Six Nations title since 2011.
Since taking over from Stuart Lancaster after the World Cup, former Australia and Japan coach Eddie Jones has guided largely the same squad of players to 13 successive victories. His only black eye so far came on the eve of the 2017 Six Nations tournament, which he first attributed to a slip in his bathroom -- and later a training accident.
The world's largest dedicated rugby venue has a capacity of 82,000 -- which helped the 2015 Six Nations record the highest average attendance of any sporting event on the planet,
according to a recent study. The London ground hosted the 2015 World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia (pictured).
If England wins all five matches in this Six Nations, it will not only defend its title and achieve another "Grand Slam" -- but also beat New Zealand's world record of 18 consecutive international wins. Stuart Lancaster's final game as coach, a win over Uruguay at the World Cup, started the run.
A 25-21 defeat at Twickenham in the penultimate round last year cost Wales a chance of winning its first Six Nations since 2013, having earlier drawn 16-16 with Ireland.
With head coach Warren Gatland (left) leading the British and Irish Lions' 2017 tour of New Zealand, assistant Rob Howley (right) will replace him for the Six Nations -- as he did four years ago when the New Zealander took the Lions to Australia.
Built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the 74,500-capacity ground was formerly known as the Millennium Stadium -- it was renamed last year. Wales wants to close the Cardiff stadium's retractable roof for its two home matches against England and Ireland -- but Six Nations organizers have not assented.
Gatland's team scored a tournament-leading 17 tries in 2016, and will have even more incentive this year. The Six Nations has followed other competitions by awarding a bonus point to teams that score four tries in a game, and also for losing by a margin of seven points or less. Points for a win or a draw have doubled to four and two respectively.
Last year, two-time defending champion Ireland started with a draw and defeats to France (10-9) and England (21-10) but bounced back with resounding wins to salvage some pride.
The New Zealander made the perfect start to his tenure with Six Nations titles in 2014 and 2015, but suffered a disappointing quarterfinal defeat to Argentina at the World Cup.
Built on the site of Irish rugby's former home Lansdowne Road, the 51,700-capacity Dublin ground -- with its distinctive continuous curved stands -- is jointly owned with the Football Association of Ireland.
Last year Scotland won two matches -- more than the two previous seasons combined. The 15-9 loss at home to "Auld Enemy" England was followed by a battling 27-23 defeat in Wales before wins against the two teams that would finish below the Scots in the table.
The New Zealander is returning to France in June, as the Scottish Rugby Union decided not to renew his three-year contract. He will be replaced by former Scotland international Gregor Townsend, who has impressed with club side Glasgow Warriors.
The Edinburgh ground has a capacity of 67,130 -- the largest in Scotland. It opened in 1925, when Scotland beat England to win its first Five Nations title.
The Scots will be looking to build on last year's results and win big matches -- though Cotter's team suffered another agonizing one-point defeat to Australia in November, bringing back memories of
the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal heartbreak. However, a first Six Nations title seems unlikely.
In a bid to encourage homegrown talent, France has decided it will no longer select players who don't have a French passport. However, it doesn't apply retroactively to those such as Fijian back Virimi Vakatawa (L) who have already represented Les Bleus.
The former France winger, 62, is hoping to emulate his outstanding results from 22 years in charge of club side Toulouse. He took over after the 2015 World Cup, and the team is still far from its past glories -- though close defeats to Australia and New Zealand in November gave some encouragement.
The 80,000-capacity ground, north of Paris in Saint-Denis, is the sixth largest in Europe. Also the host of soccer's 1998 World Cup, it will continue to host both sports after new French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte canceled his predecessor's plan to build a new $620 million stadium in Ris-Orangis, 35 km from the capital.
Les Bleus have won the tournament five times since its expansion to six teams at the turn of the millennium, but not since 2010. The team's fans will be hoping for a return to its glory days of free-flowing rugby, which has been replaced by a more dour, pragmatic style in recent years.
Since joining the tournament 16 years ago, Italy has received the dreaded "wooden spoon" as bottom team on 11 occasions. Last year it lost all five matches.
The former Ireland representative landed his first international job after last season's tournament, replacing Frenchman Jacques Brunel. O'Shea, 46, was previously with English Premiership teams London Irish and Harlequins.
The Azzurri moved to the the 73,000-capacity venue in 2012, after deciding to upgrade the much smaller Stadio Flaminio. However, that ground remains in a state of disrepair, while rugby's growth in Italy has brought bumper crowds to the national stadium -- which also hosts the capital's top soccer teams Roma and Lazio.
But just a few years into his professional rugby career, Itoje has already amassed a bulging trophy cabinet.
With his club side Saracens, he's won two Premiership titles, the European Champions Cup, and captained his team through a victorious LV= Cup campaign.
In scooping up last year's European Player of the Year award, he overcame competition from the likes of rugby legends George Smith and Dan Carter.
But whether a schoolboy or a global rugby star, Itoje's parents have never let him lose sight of his studies.
"Generally for parents, especially Nigerian parents, your education comes first when you're growing up," he says. "That was definitely my story. My parents made sure that my academic endeavors never suffered from playing rugby and other sports.
"My Dad's still on my back like he was 10 years ago. He's still making sure that I'm doing my work, both him and my mum. They're making sure that I'm going to university and doing the work I need to do to get my degree."
For Itoje, the degree is a way to lead a balanced life. "It helps you keep your mind ticking over and gives you something else to think about," he says. "I find politics very interesting, and obviously it's an interesting time to be studying politics."
Asked about Donald Trump, he says the recently-inaugurated President of the United States makes him "scratch my head a lot ... I think if I keep scratching I might go bald."
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International honors
Global politics aside, Itoje will likely have other things on his mind this week.
After several weeks out through a hand injury -- which meant missing the November international series -- he will return to launch England's Six Nations title defense.
Now coached by Eddie Jones, England has experienced a dramatic turnaround after becoming the first host nation to fail to progress past the group stage of a World Cup in 2015.
England has won 14 straight matches since that crushing defeat by the Wallabies -- 13 of them under Jones.
Victory against France on Saturday would be a national record for consecutive wins -- and the team can beat New Zealand's all-time milestone by winning all five games in this tournament.
Itoje is full of praise for the Australian, who's helped revolutionize English rugby since replacing Stuart Lancaster after the World Cup.
"Eddie is a very intelligent guy. He's very successful at what he does. He's brilliant in getting the best out of all the team," he says.
"I think for me he's been great, providing an environment where I can learn, test myself, and grow," adds Itoje, who will start in a new back-row role against France as blindside flanker.
"He's very good at man management and understanding what makes certain players tick, and he's done that well so far."
Itoje has risen through the ranks quickly. Just two years after graduating into the Saracens senior squad, he made his England debut as a 21-year-old. He is now one of rugby's most marketable athletes with several sponsors behind him, including Adidas and health insurance company Vitality.
He has also been touted as the next Martin Johnson -- England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain who, like Itoje, wore the No. 4 jersey. But despite his rapid progress, Itoje is just focusing on the next game.
"Whenever you play for England, from my experience and from speaking to some of the more experienced guys in the squad, there are no games that aren't pressure games," he says.
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"Every game is a big game. I feel that we're very good at just focusing on the next task."