England have made an alteration to their starting XV, with fullback George Furbank ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand. The Northampton Saints man has suffered a back injury, and after not training on Tuesday, Furbank has been ruled out as unavailable for selection against the All Blacks at Eden Park.
In his place will be Freddie Steward, with the Leicester Tigers man eager to stake his claim to a returning spot in the starting squad. Steward has not started for England since the second round of the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, with Furbank surpassing him to the 15 shirt ever since. Despite not being included in any England Tests since February, Steward has been ‘training the house down’, according to his teammate Sam Underhill.
“He is a solid player. He’s dependable. As Tom (Harrison – England scrum coach) alluded to, he is very good in that area (high balls) especially, but you are filled with an awful lot of confidence with anyone in this squad. I speak as someone who has trained against him for the last 4-5 weeks. Certainly, Freddie has been training the house down. Everyone has.
“There isn’t anyone who is not invested. Everyone has been at it. That’s the mark of a good team. You judge it by the guys aren’t playing. The guys who are playing, their jobs are straightforward. The guys who aren’t playing there could be excuses and there could be distractions. I know that I haven’t seen or heard any, certainly not on the training pitch.
“We have every faith in Fred for the weekend. He deserves his shot. It is unfortunate for George (Furbank) but Fred has put in an awful lot of hard work in to be where he is.”
Underhill and England scrum coach Tom Harrison spoke with the reporting media this morning, just a matter of minutes after the news broke regarding Furbank’s unavailability. Underhill expressed how despite not being a prominent feature for the best part of the 2023/24 England season, Steward is a true squad-first man, and has embodied the ethos of getting the best out of the match day squad.
Underhill was in a similar boat to Steward, as recently as the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Having been initially left out of the squad to travel to France, Underhill forewent the squad’s tournament until their final match of the campaign. An injury to Toulouse star Jack Willis opened up the door for Underhill to join the squad ahead of the Bronze Final, with the bruising back-row earning the Man of the Match accolade in the win against Argentina.
The Bath man certainly understood’s Steward’s mentality, and spoke on how the fullback would be feeling as he gets set to make an impact after being unused on the pitch for the majority of the Summer series across Japan and New Zealand.
“I guess, for me, adaptability and learning. I was part of the initial World Cup squad, then wasn’t part of it for a while, then coming in and seeing how, in the time I had been away, the team had developed was impressive.
“Then being part of the Six Nations, seeing a team without a few characters that had been in that team for a long time, there were a lot of spots to fill and shoes to fill especially in leadership roles in that team. So seeing how younger guys have taken that on, has been impressive, and some of the older guys. We are continually adapting and hopefully getting better.
“To be honest, it’s easier with a squad like this with a team like this. With a team that sort of got a belief in itself, and a I guess a sort of singularity of purpose and a desire to help each other. You can pay lip service to being a good teammate and saying, you know, ‘I want to help the team,’ I guess, it’s genuinely tested in times when you’re not picked or when you’re not being selected or having to train or not in a squad.”
Underhill continued to demonstrate how the side recognise that there is no individual greater than the England team, with the trust put in the hands of the coaches to select the strongest squads for the challenge ahead.
“And I think again, as I say, having seen the guys that haven’t been selected, train and work hard. I haven’t seen any of that, I think. Yeah, it’s a case of trusting coaches and not having, you know, I guess your ego get the better of you and knowing that you’re surrounded by good players.
“It’s an international team, like you know, any there’s a lot of players that could play in a lot of teams, and it would just come down to a coaching decision. So ultimately, I think you’ve got to trust the coach. Trust yourself. And yeah, ultimately, there’s only so much you can control as a player.”
Tom Harrison echoed the thoughts of the England flanker, in how it must be a tough ordeal to endure as an international player who is not picking up too many match minutes. Whilst the scrum coach could not offer too much of an insight towards Steward’s on-field capabilities, he certainly understood how the fullback is showing boundless mental toughness to stay alert and ready to be called upon the day before a game.
“I think it is tough for players. I go back something I said earlier about the length of the season and it’s coming to the end of it, players want to play international rugby and want to be involved in summer tours and want to be involved in these big games. The tough part is not the length of it, it is not being selected.
“Freddie Steward will be better for the experiences that he has because what he has done is that he has taken on feedback and he’s improved himself as a player. Now he has an opportunity to show everyone the hard work he has done over six weeks and the season. He is a tough bloke.”
Despite recognising the challenge of getting a call-up to start after having not been named in the match day squad, Harrison expressed how there is by no means a mentality of ‘switching off’ amongst the England camp. Whilst the likes of Joe Carpenter, Gabriel Oghre and Ethan Roots, have not featured upon the tour across Japan and New Zealand, they are remaining as alert as ever with key roles to undertake in getting the playing squad prepared for action.
“I think when someone like that, you don’t have people like that in our squad whose focus slips. If you are in the England squad, you are either starting, on the bench or you are preparing to be selected and you are preparing yourself to best prepare the team.
“He is excited for his opportunity. He has been exceptional in the way that he has improved his game through discussions with coaches have had with him and asked of him. So I am excited for him to get the chance.”