"Freddie Steward returns" – 5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick names England squad to play South Africa
11/14/2024 10:42 AM
England head coach Steve Borthwick has gone back to the drawing board this week, with some major changes made to his side to take on South Africa. Borthwick is hoping that his alterations lead England to their first win of the Autumn Nations Series, after back to back defeats to New Zealand and Australia.
Freddie Steward, Sam Underhill, Jack van Poortvliet and Tom Roebuck have all been named for their first taste of action this November, after the quartet all missed the opening two defeats at the Allianz Stadium. Steward gets the nod to start at fullback, with Underhill and van Poortvleit taking up the seven and nine shirts respectively. Roebuck rounds off the new coming replacements in the 23 jersey, for what would be the Sale man’s only second England cap.
ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA – AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES ROUND THREE
15. Freddie Steward 14. Tommy Freeman 13. Ollie Lawrence 12. Henry Slade 11. Ollie Sleightholme 10. Marcus Smith 9. Jack van Poortvliet 1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje 5. George Martin 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Sam Underhill 8. Ben Earl
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie 17. Fin Baxter 18. Dan Cole 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Alex Dombrandt 21. Harry Randall 22. George Ford 23. Tom Roebuck
5 TALKING POINTS: STEVE BORTHWICK’S ENGLAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA
1. Freddie Steward Returns to start at fullback for England
One of the key changes to Steve Borthwick’s squad to face South Africa, is the return of Freddie Steward to the England squad. Steward is set for his first taste of action of the Autumn, in what will be his first England appearence since the second Summer Test against the All Blacks down in Auckland’s Eden Park.
There’s no mistaking that Steward has been called upon to deal with the expected peppering of kicks from the Springboks, and utilise his power s England’s best option under the high ball. There is no place in the squad for George Furbank this week, with Borthwick explaining how the Northampton Saints man has earned some time on the sidelines after a physical few weeks.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “Fred being England’s full-back for such a long time, playing a good number of Tests in a row, and then not to be selected, had the second test in New Zealand but then was not selected at the start here (the autumn). His training has been exceptional. His attitude has been brilliant and the team that kicks more contestable kicks than anybody in the world is South Africa.
“Everything shows they’re head and shoulders above everybody in terms of the number of times they kick contestable.We can talk further about the law implications but we don’t expect South Africa to kick more contestable kicks than, they’re already the most in the world. Fred’s clearly got a super strength there so that has a factor to it. I think Ferbs (George Furbank) has done really well in these first couple of games. He took a couple of bangs last weekend and I felt it was time to take a change for this one.”
2. Jack van Poortvleit takes Ben Spencer’s place as England’s starting scrum half
Leicester Tigers scrum half Jack van Poortvleit will start this weekend for England, in what has been a long time coming for the halfback. JVP was the nailed on starter for England ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but sustained a horror ankle injury in a pre-World Cup summer Test against Wales. This opened the door for Alex Mitchell to stake his claim to the starting nine jersey, with his grip only relenting due to an enforced break following a neck injury.
Van Poortvleit’s England return will be his first international Test since his ankle break, as he has been given the nod to start ahead of Ben Spencer and Harry Randall. There is no place for Spencer in the match day 23, with van Poortvleit leap-frogging Randall to the starting shirt, as the Bristol Bears halfback retains the seat on the bench. Borthwick has been delighted with van Poortvliet’s effort in training and bestowed him the honour of starting against the Spingboks this Saturday.
STEVE BORTHWICK: “JVP he’s done really well. After the blow he took prior to the 2023 World Cup and then the time-out of the game and then to come back last season when he had a couple of niggles in the latter part of last season. Never quite saw him at 100 per cent and I think this season he’s been terrific. In the first couple weeks training here he is just grown and grown. I’m seeing his speed right back to the very best it was. So I’m excited to see him go on Saturday.”
“Both guys (Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso) are recovering super well. Tom’s been coming into here each day and based himself locally and coming into here each day to continue his recovery and has been excellent. He’s contributed to our preparations this week. Manny returned to Exeter for his recovery and I expect both guys to be… all being well and all things been ticked off by the medics and according to their returns play, I I’d expect both guys to be in our squad at the start of next week.”
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