Freddie Steward is in line for a recall at full‑back for England’s World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Saturday amid concerns over Marcus Smith’s fitness.
Steward was dropped from the England matchday 23 against Fiji last time out but is expected to be handed the No 15 jersey with Smith unable to train fully this week.
Steward’s return would offer Steve Borthwick a safe pair of hands in the face of what is expected to be an aerial bombardment from the Springboks. At 6ft 2in he has considerable prowess under the high ball and, before he was omitted against Fiji, he had started 29 of England’s past 30 Tests.
Steward does not offer the same threat as Smith with ball in hand but the Harlequins playmaker was in the wars against Fiji and, barring a late change of heart, it appears his inability to take a full part in training has tipped the balance in Steward’s favour.
The defence coach, Kevin Sinfield, was full of praise for how Smith stood up to the physical challenge last Saturday but conceded he “got his face smashed all over the place”.
Smith went off for a head injury assessment after a clash with Fiji’s Vinaya Habosi – who was shown a yellow card for the tackle – and finished the match with a bandaged head. He passed his HIA but was put on “modified training” on Tuesday and did not take part in a football session.
Sinfield has also been glowing in his praise of how Steward dealt with his omission for the quarter‑final. “I’ve worked with Fred for some time now,” the defence coach said this week.
“Thankfully I’ve not had to have many of these conversations where I’m trying to pick him up. Clearly he’s disappointed, as anyone would be missing out on a quarter‑final, but he’s responded as we’d expect him to.
“Just because Fred wasn’t selected last week doesn’t mean he does anything wrong, he has actually done a lot of great things and a lot of things right, but Steve and the coaching team thought it was the right thing to go with Marcus.”
While a change at full‑back would continue Borthwick’s record of never naming the same team in succession since taking charge of England, the head coach is expected to largely stick by the side who overcame Fiji 30-24 in Marseille last weekend when he announces on Thursday his lineup to face the Springboks.
Ollie Chessum, meanwhile, believes England will be a “scary” prospect for the defending world champions, who go into the match in Paris on Saturday as heavy favourites.
England are the only unbeaten side remaining in the competition, having won all five of their matches following a disappointing warm-up campaign, but they are facing the team who triumphed 32-12 against them in the 2019 final.
“We are improving week by week as a group,” Chessum said. “In the warm-up games at the start, we were in a strange place. But we are starting to figure ourselves out and find our identity. We know what we bring as a team. We are growing as a team and I think that is a scary thing for any team. We are not the complete article yet and we are winning games.
“I don’t know if fear is the right word, but I think there is an awareness that we know what is coming. There is an awareness of their ability, the threats that they pose. They play against top-class teams, they play against top players that will target them week in week out, and they are still able to do what they do. It’s our job to stop that.
“You’ve got to rise to the challenge. We play rugby, it’s a physical game. If you don’t bring physicality against any team then you’re going to struggle. From that aspect, certainly as a forward, it’s not particularly hard to brace yourselves for a physical game against South Africa. It’s our job this weekend to be physical.”
