The fanboy backstory to Freddie Steward's motivation against Wales
Freddie Steward will be inspired by the memory of witnessing Elliot Daly’s famous try at the Principality Stadium as he targets the end of England’s Cardiff drought.
Wearing a red rose jersey and with his face painted in national colours, a 16-year-old Steward was present in 2017 to watch George Ford and Owen Farrell send Daly diving over for a dramatic late score that snatched a 21-16 victory.
It was England’s last win in the Welsh capital and since then Steward has taken ownership of the full-back jersey at Daly’s expense.
Now 22, he aims to ignite Steve Borthwick’s first Guinness Six Nations as head coach by spearheading a revival at the venue on Saturday.
“I was there when Elliot Daly scored that try in the 75th minute,” Steward said.
“I was actually in the corner with my dad and brothers, so that was a little snapshot for me of what the Welsh atmosphere is like. It’s incredible.
“When the try was scored a lot of beer was thrown around and there was a lot of rowdiness. There was also a bit of dismay, as you can imagine.
“The pictures of me that day are shocking. No, I was a proud Englishman that day. I remember it very well, it was a brilliant day.
“Hopefully when we return on Saturday it will the same again. It was an awesome memory. Nicking it the way we did at the death was pretty cool.
“The one thing that stands out is the Welsh anthem. I think the roof was off that day but even so, there is something special about the anthem.
“Even if you’re not Welsh, it’s something to admire and something special when they all get singing. I look forward to that on Saturday.”
Steward made his Test debut in the midst of the pandemic, denying him the experience of operating in hostile away environments until he started at Murrayfield a year ago.
Farrell has been the Leicester Tiger’s main source information over what to expect in the round three clash as England brace themselves for the type of reception that is spared for them alone.
“Some of the players have mentioned going through Cardiff on the bus, which is apparently just a complete frenzy,” Steward said.
“I’ll try and keep my headphones in and stare down the bus rather than get distracted by that. But it’s all part of it.
“Scotland last year was my first Six Nations away experience. The way the bus drives in really slow, Scottish fans either side of you swearing at you, beer being thrown at the bus.
“It was the first time I have experienced that hostility in rugby but, intimidating as it is, it can get the best out of you, it makes you want to win even more.
“It’s nice to have that atmosphere – sometimes it can be healthy. Intimidation, two sets of fans going at it – it can bring more out of the players.
“England v Wales is the fixture where form goes out of the window and you get the best of both teams. We’re excited for that challenge.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments