Steward has the talent to cement full-back position as his own
Ihave not seen a guy take a high ball and carry through the first tackle as well as Freddie Steward does at Leicester since Tim Stimpson, although Charles Piutau does that very well, too. Having that ability at the back, particularly in high-pressure games, makes you worth your weight in gold.
This kid has an opportunity to win more than 50 caps for England, he is that good. He reminds me of Jordie Barrett for the All Blacks.
Normally, games are turned on that secondary collision or that dropped ball, because of the amount of box kicking that has infiltrated into the game. Box kicks have turned into an attacking weapon, rather than to clear your lines – creating 50-50 catches, guys taking the ball and getting smashed, or players from the kicking team swarming the breakdown and winning penalties.
What Steward has given Leicester is that stability to not lose ground when he fields those high kicks. He is a big lad, he gets up high in the air, but it is also about getting into a position to catch each kick, getting his body into the right shape to secure the catch. His field positioning is really good, and it will get tested the more he plays international rugby.
It is about how you add different layers to your game. There are not many full-backs in the Gallagher Premiership who can take a high ball like Steward, who can ride that first tackle, who can avoid getting turned over. He can get smashed, but just seems to absorb the tackle. Now he has to think, what else can I add to my game?
What I would like to see from him more would be some outside breaks. He is relatively quick but not lightning fast, so why not go and get a sprint coach? Spend some time working on that.
Speed would be the first thing, because the faster you are the more impact you can have on international rugby. If you are in the back three, you have to be one of the five fastest people on the pitch.
How does he go away and improve that speed without damaging himself ? He has to think, “What else can I build up – my offloading game, my relationship with my wingers?”
Almost the biggest part of playing as full-back is controlling your wingers, who, by nature... let’s call them beer bottles. They are empty from the neck up. Jonny May and Adam Radwan are two similar guys: electrically quick, but they need to be moved around. The pendulum of that back three needs to be controlled, especially with the new 50:22 law.
Doing that at club level is easy. Doing it when you have over 80,000 watching at Twickenham and you cannot hear someone shouting two metres away takes a lot more skill. It takes eye contact, making your decision early, building a relationship. Sometimes it has to be body language. May is hugely experienced and will know roughly where to go. Let’s hope Radwan, the fastest player on the pitch, builds into a similar sort of player. That is how I was able to play on the wing – I was not the fastest, but thinking all the time.
England still have Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson to come back, but that full-back position, Steward can cement that as his own. Daly has never really looked comfortable there. He is a great player, but there is a reason why the Lions moved him to 13. We have not really seen anyone look comfortable there at full-back for England since Mike Brown.
If I had any advice for Steward, it would be do not go in there and just be happy to pull on the England shirt. People who are like that probably should not have put it on in the first place. This is his first real cap, with all the Lions players back. Play this autumn series, experience top-level Tests over the next few weeks, see it through and you will have a great foundation to move into the Six Nations.
In those moments, when he is in camp and in that hotel room with the squad, he needs to be looking at everyone and thinking, “I need to be much better than the best player here”. Train that way, and he will be playing for England for a long time.