Norfolk rugby coach says Freddie Steward "must bide his time" to make England line-up return

The Dereham-born full-back is missing from the starting line-up for the third game in a row

Freddie Steward, (above)
Author: Tom ClabonPublished 16th Mar 2024

A rugby coach from Norfolk is telling us that local lad Freddie Steward "must bide his time"- to break back into the starting England squad.

The Dereham-born full-back is missing from the starting line-up for the third game in a row. With Steve Borthwick's men taking on France in the Six Nations, this evening.

"He's young and talented so there's no double he'll improve"

Darren Clarke is director of Rugby at West Norfolk:

"I'm sure that Freddie Steward will get his chance again. I'm sure that the coaches are working with him on what they want from him, moving forwards. I'm confident that he'll be back in the summer. He's young and talented so there's no double he'll improve.

"Pleasing to see us stick to our game plan"

"The main difference between the Ireland and Scotland game was that once the pressure was on us, we didn't fold or stop playing our attacking brand. But against Scotland, we went back into our shells a bit and reverted to type. So it was pleasing to see us stick to our game plan.

"England have got to match France physically upfront and if they do that they've got a chance of winning. The thing with this young England side is that consistency is something that's going to be very hard to come by. We saw a couple of good wins at the start before we lost against Scotland. That being said we did bounce back from that and beat Ireland.

"France showed against Wales that they are coming into some form. There is no doubt that they will cause us some difficult challenges. That being said, we have to show that we have the ability to stick to our game-plan now".

Kick-off is at 8pm, at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.

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