Freddie Steward has thrown his support behind the newly introduced TMO bunker review system – used to potentially upgrade yellow cards to reds – as he prepares for his first England appearance since his controversial sending-off against Ireland.
Steward was dismissed after making contact with Hugo Keenan’s head in an accidental collision in March but his red card was subsequently rescinded. It was little consolation for England, who after an impressive start to the match in Dublin went on to lose 29-16 to the eventual grand slam winners.
For World Cup warm-up matches, the review system, whereby a referee can send a player to the sin-bin for 10 minutes while a second television match official watches footage of the incident to determine whether an upgrade to a red card is warranted, has been rolled out. The player then either returns to the field of play after their sin-bin stint or is shown a red card.
The system has been previously trialled in the southern hemisphere and is expected to be introduced for the World Cup provided the warm-up matches pass off without a hitch. Saturday’s fixture against Wales will be England’s first encounter with the system, however.
“It’s a good step forward,” said Steward. “Games are significantly affected, when it’s 15 v 14 it’s a different game. So if the right decision is made or the wrong decision is made it gives an opportunity to correct that, which I think is good for the game.
“When a decision like that takes about five or 10 minutes out of the game, it’s not good for the spectators, it’s not good for the players to have that break. I think it’s a really good initiative to keep the game flowing and ensure the right decision is made.”
Steward also revealed that he made a cathartic return to the exact spot on the Aviva Stadium pitch three weeks later, on the advice of the psychologist David Priestley. “[Leicester] actually played at the Aviva Stadium a couple weeks after that incident,” the 22-year-old said. “I had done a bit of work with the psychologist and he said to me before the game: ‘Just go and stand where it happened, on that bit of turf, and just replay it and park it.’ That was the line in the sand and it’s not really something that I’ve thought about since. To be back in that same spot, it was so much easier to think: ‘It happened, deal with it,’ and that was that.”
England are hopeful that Tom Curry will be fit to appear in one of their warm-up games after sustaining a twisted ankle. Curry was seen in a protective boot at England’s training base on Friday after Steve Borthwick had said that the flanker’s expected layoff was anywhere between a few days and a couple of weeks. Asked if the flanker would appear in any of the three subsequent warm-up games this month, the defence coach Kevin Sinfield said: “We’re very hopeful. We don’t think it will be too long, but we’ll be smart with him as well.”
Curry will still be named in England’s final World Cup squad of 33 on Monday but the back row is a fiercely competitive area for selection. Tom Pearson makes his debut on Saturday at openside flanker while Alex Dombrandt and Lewis Ludlam will be hoping for strong showings from the start, Tom Willis from the bench.
“First and foremost, it’s a Test match,” Sinfield said. “I’m sure some players will have it in the back of their minds. But we want to show how we’ve improved. There are only a handful [of places undecided], there aren’t many. It’d be unfair to say [selection] is all on this game, because it’s not. We’ve got to take into account the last eight weeks, how players have performed throughout the season and exactly what we need going forward. There are some wonderful players who will miss out, sadly, because we can’t take everybody. We’ll try to get to the right place with the right balance within the squad.”
