Rejuvenated Freddie Steward rising to the challenge after contract snub

Freddie Steward is showing himself to be no one-trick pony as he seeks to prove to Steve Borthwick he can be England’s long-term answer at full-back.

The 25-year-old faces a renewed battle with George Furbank for the jersey in the Six Nations with the Northampton man back in action again after injury issues.

It was Furbank rather than Steward who was handed an enhanced EPS contract by the England head coach in August because of his superior creative game.

However the Leicester full-back’s coach Geoff Parling feels Steward has come on leaps and bounds in that area.

Steward topped the metres made statistics in Friday night’s win over Gloucester with 124 and stands fourth in the league’s overall list this season.

“I think he’s a great attacking player,” said Parling. “He’s good defensively and under the high ball so I’m pleased with Freddie – he’s really pushing on.

“I think he just did the simple things really well at the weekend. If you look at two of his breaks, first of all he did his core role in terms of his high ball catch, which we all know he is excellent at, carried square, had the ball in both hands, exploited a hole and used his vision to give simple passes.

“It was the basics done really well.”

Player Carries

1

Joaquin Moro

13

2

Charlie Atkinson

12

3

Freddie Steward

11

It was the continuation of a theme with Steward – who started three of England’s four autumn Tests in Furbank’s absence – also in the top ten for defenders beaten and try assists in the PREM this season.

“I think there’s no shying away from it – the attacking side of the game probably hasn’t been a strength over the past two years so it has been a challenge for me to try to add another string to my bow,” Steward told TNT Sports after the Gloucester game.

“For me it’s more a confidence thing. It’s getting my hands on the ball and wanting to beat defenders and just playing with a smile on my face.

“I’ve probably been shoeboxed a bit with my high-ball stuff and it’s nice to be able to show another side of my game and that I’ve been working hard and hopefully people can see that.”

Steward has benefited from Leicester’s upturn in form and a willingness to expand their game to a degree.

They have scored 20 tries in their last four PREM games which have brought four successive wins.

“We had a very simple game plan at the start of the year and we’re trying to evolve that as we push on,” said Parling.

“I don’t think we’ll ever be a team that holds the ball for as many phases, as for example, Bristol do in their own half but I want players to play what they see.

“I want us to be efficient at times but I give them the framework to play heads-up rugby and we’ll work on them to improve that decision-making.”