Freddie Steward

[baz1664]

Was again very impressed by Steward yesterday, his break in the 2nd half was outstanding, bounced off the tackle then made some good metres, he might not catch all the high balls but he always puts pressure on the opposition and doesn’t give them clean ball. SB needs to keep him at full back and let him build his confidence. Very much a future England Full Back, the current crop of Daly, Furbank and Malins are within his sights already

[Brutus]

I thought he had a great game and I have been impressed every time I’ve seen him in a Tigers shirt. Unlike some of the other academy graduates I always get a sense of confidence when I see his name on the team sheet. On that note (sorry to digress a little) I notice how some of the other recently academy graduates were absent from the team sheet against glaws - I suppose repeated spankings at the hands of pretty much all opposition will have done little for for their development in the past couple of seasons. I wonder if we might see them held back a little until the team start to gain a bit of momentum and get back a winning mentality, with them reintroduced gradually to reignite their young careers - I certainly hope so!

Back to this thread, with his size, skill and composure, I would prefer FS to any of the other options for England, especially given that he is an actual specialist fullback. A bold statement I know and I would like to see him in a Tigers shirt as much as possible first!

[Tiglon]

I'm normally at the front of the queue to downplay expectations of Tigers youngsters, but Freddie will be capped for England in 2021 if he keeps playing the way he has and keeps progressing.

From the first moment I saw him in a Tigers shirt he looked like he belonged in the senior team, and that's what you're looking for with these kids. He dropped 1(?) high ball on Saturday, and then came back next time and nailed it. He looks supremely confident and determined without appearing arrogant.

If he keeps grounded (apart from when taking catches!), keeps listening and keeps learning he can be a top player for years.

In terms of Tigers youngsters overall, I think Borthwick is taking exactly the right approach. Reffell and Steward look like Top 4 Premiership players, so he has put trust in them and they start ahead of more experienced players. Others who aren't quite so far along but have still shown their potential (Henderson, Kelly) get places on the bench. Those who have had numerous chances and just don't look like they'll ever be good enough to take us back into the playoffs (Hardwick, Olowofela, Worth) don't get on the team sheet because they simply haven't done enough to deserve it. Some people will argue about Lewis or others deserving to be in there, but we will always have different opinions from each other. In short, if you play well enough, you get to keep playing, and that's exactly the right approach.

Incidentally, when it comes to the back row, I suspect SB has a similar approach to Eddie - powerful, destructive, relentless players who can overpower the opposition... just look at who we've signed. That might be why Lewis hasn't been seen. I doubt SB thinks he's a bad player, he just isn't the type of player that fits the plan. Look at our back row yesterday, it felt very similar to England's. Refell just tackles all day with power and precision a lot like Underhill, Liebenberg is everywhere and never on the back foot a lot like Curry and Wiese was the big guy at 8 very similar to Bill V. I don't think it's a coincidence given SB's history with Eddie and I struggle to see how Lewis fits into that vision.

[TigerFeetSteve]

I'm normally at the front of the queue to downplay expectations of Tigers youngsters, but Freddie will be capped for England in 2021 if he keeps playing the way he has and keeps progressing.

From the first moment I saw him in a Tigers shirt he looked like he belonged in the senior team, and that's what you're looking for with these kids. He dropped 1(?) high ball on Saturday, and then came back next time and nailed it. He looks supremely confident and determined without appearing arrogant.

If he keeps grounded (apart from when taking catches!), keeps listening and keeps learning he can be a top player for years.

In terms of Tigers youngsters overall, I think Borthwick is taking exactly the right approach. Reffell and Steward look like Top 4 Premiership players, so he has put trust in them and they start ahead of more experienced players. Others who aren't quite so far along but have still shown their potential (Henderson, Kelly) get places on the bench. Those who have had numerous chances and just don't look like they'll ever be good enough to take us back into the playoffs (Hardwick, Olowofela, Worth) don't get on the team sheet because they simply haven't done enough to deserve it. Some people will argue about Lewis or others deserving to be in there, but we will always have different opinions from each other. In short, if you play well enough, you get to keep playing, and that's exactly the right approach.

Incidentally, when it comes to the back row, I suspect SB has a similar approach to Eddie - powerful, destructive, relentless players who can overpower the opposition... just look at who we've signed. That might be why Lewis hasn't been seen. I doubt SB thinks he's a bad player, he just isn't the type of player that fits the plan. Look at our back row yesterday, it felt very similar to England's. Refell just tackles all day with power and precision a lot like Underhill, Liebenberg is everywhere and never on the back foot a lot like Curry and Wiese was the big guy at 8 very similar to Bill V. I don't think it's a coincidence given SB's history with Eddie and I struggle to see how Lewis fits into that vision.

The other thing with Lewis et al that aren't playing is we don't see them day in day out. For all we know Walters is doing some specific work alongside Lewis to bulk him up or to help Olowofela run faster, or maybe some have an attitude problem, that has contributed to the squad being disjointed and them not being treated as golden boys has helped unite others. We probably won't ever know until we either see them shipped on or integrated.

[spongebillybob]

Who thinks we'll see steward going on an England tour soon? Is there one 2020? Especially considering some of the England players will be in South Africa.

Definitely deserves a squad place, I think.

[Snoopydog68]

I'm normally at the front of the queue to downplay expectations of Tigers youngsters, but Freddie will be capped for England in 2021 if he keeps playing the way he has and keeps progressing.

From the first moment I saw him in a Tigers shirt he looked like he belonged in the senior team, and that's what you're looking for with these kids. He dropped 1(?) high ball on Saturday, and then came back next time and nailed it. He looks supremely confident and determined without appearing arrogant.

If he keeps grounded (apart from when taking catches!), keeps listening and keeps learning he can be a top player for years.

In terms of Tigers youngsters overall, I think Borthwick is taking exactly the right approach. Reffell and Steward look like Top 4 Premiership players, so he has put trust in them and they start ahead of more experienced players. Others who aren't quite so far along but have still shown their potential (Henderson, Kelly) get places on the bench. Those who have had numerous chances and just don't look like they'll ever be good enough to take us back into the playoffs (Hardwick, Olowofela, Worth) don't get on the team sheet because they simply haven't done enough to deserve it. Some people will argue about Lewis or others deserving to be in there, but we will always have different opinions from each other. In short, if you play well enough, you get to keep playing, and that's exactly the right approach.

Incidentally, when it comes to the back row, I suspect SB has a similar approach to Eddie - powerful, destructive, relentless players who can overpower the opposition... just look at who we've signed. That might be why Lewis hasn't been seen. I doubt SB thinks he's a bad player, he just isn't the type of player that fits the plan. Look at our back row yesterday, it felt very similar to England's. Refell just tackles all day with power and precision a lot like Underhill, Liebenberg is everywhere and never on the back foot a lot like Curry and Wiese was the big guy at 8 very similar to Bill V. I don't think it's a coincidence given SB's history with Eddie and I struggle to see how Lewis fits into that vision.

The other thing with Lewis et al that aren't playing is we don't see them day in day out. For all we know Walters is doing some specific work alongside Lewis to bulk him up or to help Olowofela run faster, or maybe some have an attitude problem, that has contributed to the squad being disjointed and them not being treated as golden boys has helped unite others. We probably won't ever know until we either see them shipped on or integrated.

Looks likes Hardwick may well be on the move - Rugby paper this morning reporting Bristol are interested and possibly Gloucester. Agree with regards to our back row options - Lewis will most probably struggle to get a look in due to his size which is a great shame as he is a really good player. I've said before more Tom Croft like. I am sure the likes of Lewis, Olowofela are banging on Borthwick's door each week asking why they aren't being selected. Think Lewis is out of contract at the end of this season, I would assume he is talking to his agent to find him another club who wants him in his game plan. Sad loss for Tigers I think. I feel for the majority of the academy lads who were promoted to senior squad last season, they have been left to train with no game time. White and Heyes seem to me to have been pushed to the bench for the time being and this isn't helpful for bringing on their game. Understand entirely though why Borthwick is using Wigglesworth and Cole - we need to win games.

I'm not sure about Borthwick to be fair I find him very cold and lacking in personality but if he gets results then I can cope with that.