Six Nations: England full-back Freddie Steward ready for aerial battle at rainy Murrayfield
England full-back Freddie Steward has been working on his aerial skills ahead of Saturday’s clash with Scotland as the home side are expected to deploy a kicking onslaught in terrible conditions at Murrayfield.
Eddie Jones’ England side have had a challenging build-up to the Six Nations losing several players to injury and open their tournament with a Calcutta Cup clash set to be played in high winds and heavy rain.
Kicking onslaught
The 21-year-old is in the early stages of his Test career, having only earned five caps, and is yet to experience a hostile Murrayfield where he will be inevitably tested under the high ball.
“It’s been quite breezy in camp this week so we’ve been able to replicate the weather without even trying,” Steward said.
“But we’ve also had a couple of buckets of water to dunk the balls in during training,
“The boys have been brilliant practising as a back three. We’ve been working on those high balls.
“The nines have been brilliant, testing us with all sorts of kicks and George Ford has been putting up his spiral bombs.”
Having lost Owen Farrell, Courtney Lawes, Sam Underhill, Jonny May and Anthony Watson to injury, England must confront a resurgent Scotland without several of their most experienced players.
A large portion of the team announced by Jones on Thursday morning will be making their Six Nations debuts so Steward’s Leicester team-mate Ben Youngs has been preparing the rookies for what to expect at a venue where he has never lost.
“I’m really looking forward to experiencing that atmosphere. I’ve grown up watching the Six Nations every year so running out at Murrayfield now would be a really cool experience,” Steward said.
“I’ve not played for England away from Twickenham yet, so I’m really looking forward to the experience.
“The boys have talked a lot about the atmosphere, especially at Murrayfield. It sounds incredible, so I’m really excited. I am nervous, but it’s not something I’m scared of.
“It’s something that’s very hard to replicate – that hostility from the crowd. It’s definitely going to be a new experience.
“We’ve been working really hard in the week trying to prepare ourselves mentally for that hostility and trying to make sure it doesn’t affect our performance.
“Ben Youngs was the man speaking about it the most. He’s a massively experienced player with England who has done it all.
“He spoke about what to expect, coming off the bus, the hostility of the environment. He mentioned the fans are quite far away from the pitch, and the difference that makes.
“He talked about his experience and how it could possibly affect us. We’ve got to do our best to block that out.”
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