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The Freddie Steward message for France, and his most feared No10
England full-back Freddie Steward has issued a warning to France ahead of Saturday’s round four Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham. The 22-year-old was voted player of the match in the round three win over Wales in Cardiff after he impressively dealt with a deluge of high balls and he is hoping the French adopt the same tactic and target him with a pile more kicks in a few days’ time.
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Asked during a 14-minute interview on the latest Rugby Pod if he wanted France to rain high balls down on top of him in London, Steward said: “I hope so.”
Composure under the high ball has been classed as the full-back’s super skill in the England team, but he insisted a vast amount of work goes into it and he isn’t completely happy with its effectiveness despite his eye-catching performance at the Principality Stadium.
“I dropped one against Wales,” he quipped before detailing what he gets up to prepare. “Loads, loads of hard work. I guess it’s like not being satisfied with where it is at the minute. I have got to keep pushing, keep working hard on it. I don’t want to sort of slack off on it and then all of a sudden it’s not working on a game day.
“So after training, we always get the big bag out. We get Nate (sports scientist Nathan Beardsley), one of the S&C guys, under it which is quite fun, knee in the back, but he is brilliant. It’s good fun, I enjoy it.”
Triple Crown Decider and Le Crunch with Freddie Steward 🤞🏻
Listen now on Spotify 🎧 https://t.co/xKLS0oju1C pic.twitter.com/7mrI17y4ki
— The Rugby Pod (@TheRugbyPod) March 7, 2023
Quizzed specifically on how France are faring in the championship with a similar W2 L1 record as England, Steward added: “They have played in different ways in their first couple of games. The challenge for us is to try and see what is coming. They are the No2 team in the world, we know they are going to be unbelievable at the weekend. They are a very strong outfit. (Antoine) Dupont, (Romain) Ntamack, fantastic players. It is going to be a challenge for us but the boys are really excited. We are just keen to get stuck into it.”
It was July 2021 when Steward first burst onto the England scene after impressing at Leicester and he has blossomed on the international stage. Who has been his toughest opponent, though, when it comes to testing him under kicks? “The one that springs to mind is Finn Russell last year when we played Scotland away,” he revealed.
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“It was my first ever game in the Six Nations, I’d never played (against) Finn before and when you are 15 and coming up against a team, the 10 is always the man you try and study.
“You try and figure out his triggers, where he is going to kick, what he does before he kicks and Finn is one of those players you never know, he has got a box of tricks and he has got the ability if you are out of position to expose you in seconds so I didn’t enjoy coming up against him.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments