Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

England star determined not to be star struck by All Blacks

By PA
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Beauden Barrett of New Zealand signs autographs during the New Zealand All Blacks Captain's Run at Murrayfield Stadium on November 12, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Freddie Steward is eager to chalk off another first on his rugby bucket list as England’s rising star begins his own process of demystifying the All Blacks.

ADVERTISEMENT

Eddie Jones’ side bounced back from a narrow defeat to Argentina that launched the Autumn Nations Series by overwhelming Japan 52-13, but now the serious business begins.

New Zealand visit Twickenham on Saturday before South Africa conclude the schedule a week later in two heavyweight collisions that will make or break their campaign.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

Steward signalled that he will be one of England’s key weapons with a towering performance against Japan as the 21-year-old full-back continued his upwards trajectory to rugby stardom.

But with the All Blacks clash imminent, the 15-cap rookie who was studying economics at Loughborough University when the rivals last clashed at the 2019 World Cup must first lose his reverence for the opposition.

“As a young lad who’s watched rugby his whole life, the All Blacks are the team you want to play against,” Steward said.

“To be able to face the Haka is just so exciting. I’ll probably need to get over being star struck in the week so that come game-day I’m in a position where I’m ready to perform.

ADVERTISEMENT

“But it’s important not to get caught up in that aura of their history and their success and just treat it as just another game.

“We’ll work out what we did well against Japan and what we didn’t do well, put it right and put together a plan to beat them.

Related

“We had a point to prove after the Argentina game. We were frustrated with that result.”

Steward was at the heart of England’s best attacking moments, scoring one try and directly involved in the build-up to two others, and was equally commanding at the core elements of full-back play.

Jones praised his maturity, adding that the “only flashiness we’ve seen from him is his ridiculous moustache”.

ADVERTISEMENT

A calm head on young shoulders, Steward has been working to enhance his mindset through sessions with psychologists Andrea Furst and Dave Priestley.

“When you’re running out at Twickenham and you have 80,000 fans around you screaming and the ball goes in the air, it’s quite a daunting experience,” he said.

“I’ve done a lot of work on dealing with that and ignoring everything except the ball because that’s all that matters. That’s been the biggest work-on for me.

“It’s that focus. When that ball goes up, that is all that matters. So it’s: ‘where’s the ball going to land, what do I need to do with my timing and my footwork to get there?’ It’s trying not to think about what’s coming – not the next phase, just that ball.

“I had a lot of ball against Japan and it’s always nice when things fall your way. I loved every second of being out there.

“I’ve also been working really hard on the physical side of the game – the power, the strength, the speed – and it’s good to see that paying dividends.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster | Autumn Nations Series All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
Search