Freddie Steward’s heart rarely slips far from his sleeve. On the field, the 23-year-old embodies commitment and courage; especially when you’re hovering over flailing limbs to claim high balls. Outside of that, the 23-year-old is admirably authentic.
He radiates an infectious enthusiasm for Leicester Tigers and England in all interviews, which could make this interview, his first since a difficult Six Nations, somewhat delicate. But Steward doesn’t shy away from it.
Leicester’s campaign is hanging by a thread after Saturday’s 40-17 defeat to Northampton Saints. As Steward admits, accuracy has let Tigers down in big moments in games decided by slim margins. On a personal level, Steward’s season was defined by the significant setback of England dropping him. He never gave a hint of taking it for granted – quite the opposite, in fact – and yet his position in Steve Borthwick’s squad seemed about as secure as it could be.
From his Test debut in 2021, Steward started 28 consecutive Tests before being rested for last year’s World Cup pool match against Chile. He was left out for the quarter-final against Fiji, with Marcus Smith at full-back, but returned to face South Africa in the semi-final and retained that place to start the Six Nations. And then, after an impressive individual performance as a stubborn Wales were ousted at Twickenham, Steward was told he would not be present on matchday 23 for Scotland. George Furbank would carry 15, with Smith on the bench.
The decisive conversation with Borthwick – “it was such a small conversation but it stirred up so many emotions” – took place on the Monday before England traveled to Murrayfield. Nine days earlier, Steward was among the hosts’ best players in a 16-14 win over Warren Gatland’s men. In the first round, his decent performance helped England escape from Rome with a win. Borthwick’s decision had less to do with form than with a desire to go in a tactically different direction. Was that even more painful?
“Playing for England means everything to me,” says Steward. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and every time you put on that shirt is special. If you don’t get that chance, it hurts. That first week and the week after were especially difficult. I struggled.
“But as much as I was disappointed and upset – because all you want to be is to be in those 23 and play – I still had a responsibility to help the team. My role was just different and I never wanted my disappointment in the team to fade away or the environment to take away.
“It was really a challenge; Up there, definitely having the most challenging weeks of my career. For me it was understanding that this is sport and it happens. I certainly wasn’t the first to have this happen to me and certainly won’t be the last. It was a matter of dealing with those emotions.”
David Priestley, the England team psychologist, was a “brilliant” pillar and Steward describes Kevin Sinfield, another valued confidante, as “always a rock for me”. This is not a pity party, but rather a raw and vulnerable account of the feelings involved. Claustrophobia was part of the cocktail.
“It’s hard because you can’t escape it,” Steward continues. “You hear the news and you can’t just go home and be with your family and spend time. You’re in camp and you still have work to do.”
Ultimately, despite a false start full of mistakes, Borthwick was vindicated by England’s thrilling victory over Ireland. Furbank was excellent in the last game and collective attacking verve almost gave England a win in France too. Although not present, the 6-foot-2 Steward stood out in his unfamiliar job as a traveling reserve over the past three laps. He took part in warm-ups before running shuttles with a few others on an otherwise empty court before kick-off. Although it must have been a humiliating experience, Steward wasn’t too concerned about any dents to his pride.
“Probably not so much pride, it’s more – and I’ve always been like that – you feel like you’ve let people down,” he admits. “Family is always an important motivator for me. It has been my motivation throughout my career. And it may sound stupid, but you feel like you’ve let people down because I want to make them proud when I play for England. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll absorb it yourself, probably more than is healthy.
“You just have to find joy in different things… it’s different, of course, but sprinting after warm-up and things like that. You just have to enjoy it. You can’t be in a position where you’re disappointed and upset and you let that filter down into the team.”
Out of what seems like a genuine desire to put the team first, Steward pushed his ego aside and refused to mope. According to him, his “very good” relationship with Borthwick has “certainly not been damaged”. Steward was presented with areas for improvement that he politely preferred to keep private. “Yes, if that’s okay?” he says. “I apologize, but that is a conversation I will leave between me and the coaches. There are things I need to work on and they are up to me now.”
A fairly safe bet, given Furbank’s strengths and how Smith returned as an auxiliary full-back, is that Steward has been asked to focus on his distribution and link-up. In reality, this is an all-consuming task. And we cannot neglect the existing strengths either.
“From the outside in, you would probably assume it’s all about the field, and it’s about skills and all that,” Steward explains. “It’s busy behind the scenes with coaches, watching a lot of rugby – sometimes too much rugby probably – and refining these little things.
“I’ve had great conversations with players here [at Leicester]. I had a good chat with Ben Youngs, and the first thing he said was: ‘Of course you want to work on the other things and make your game more complete, but don’t forget what got you to this place – keep hammering on the things that you do. those strengths and get better at them’.
“You can always get better. I have never been a player who is happy with where I am or happy with my skills. I want to continue developing.”
“I’ll stick with the back three for the time being, but you never know”
A spell on the right wing, with starts there against Leinster and Northampton, furthers Steward’s education: “You see the game from a different perspective on the wing and there are so many transferable skills that it will help me become a better player. . I told Daan [McKellar, the Leicester head coach] that I will give 100 percent wherever I go.”
Several observers, including Sir Clive Woodward, have wondered how a more radical move towards the center might proceed. “It’s been mentioned here and there,” Steward laughs. “And it’s never been something I paid much attention to. For the time being I will stick with the back three, but you never know.”
You wouldn’t expect Steward to shy away from a challenge and he knows he can “put my hat back in the ring” for England, who face Japan and New Zealand this summer, with a number of Tigers outings assured. McKellar’s men must respond immediately as their loss to Northampton was chastening. The score disappeared after Solomone Kata’s red card when Leicester trailed 18-17.
“You feel in the dressing room that everyone is devastated,” says Steward about that derby defeat. “It’s not something you can get over in a few hours and minutes. On Monday morning we were probably still a bit finished with our performance. You have to park that very quickly and understand that you have four or five days to perform again.”
In a typically upbeat tone, Steward insists Leicester can reach the play-offs and save a play-off spot by beating Bristol Bears, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs: “We just have to win our next three and give the rugby gods a chance take care of the rest.”
Control the controllables and work hard to change your fortunes; a hard, old lesson that will have been reinforced for Steward in recent months.