Freddie Steward has called on England to win back the support of Twickenham as they launch a new era with Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Wales.
In their most recent home fixture, Steve Borthwick’s side were booed by fans after falling 30-22 to Fiji in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup – the first time they had lost to the Pacific Islanders – but the fans rallied behind them at that tournament and flocked to Rome for last week’s Six Nations opener against Italy,
Under new captain Jamie George, England are determined to reconnect with the Twickenham support by delivering results and displaying ambition in attack, and full-back Steward is in no doubt the backing they receive in south-west London is critical.
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Sky Sports News’ James Cole and Sky Sports digital journalist Marc Bazeley assess England’s narrow opening Six Nations win over Italy
“This is essentially a fresh start,” Steward said. “We have had our World Cup, and we are on the start of a new cycle with fresh faces, new coaches – this is our chance to draw a line in the sand.
“As players when you play for England you are expected to win and when you don’t win, understandably you don’t have the fans on your side and there was a bit of that in the warm-ups to the World Cup.
“I would never blame the fans and say they need to lift us. They do that on the back of what we do, so the responsibility is ours. During the World Cup when we got to the semi-final it felt like that is what it can be like.
“As players, we want that all the time, but we have to put the performances on the field to earn that. The fans are the heartbeat of what we do; we want Twickenham to erupt, and we want it to be a place we want to go and play in front of our fans and represent them.”
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Sky Sports News’ James Coles provides an update from England’s training camp as they prepare for their second Six Nations game against Wales on Saturday
England’s tactics during the first year of Borthwick’s reign as head coach were conservative as he tried to shape a side which could challenge at the World Cup just nine months after replacing Eddie Jones.
The focus on kicking and stats-based approach turned off many supporters, but in last week’s 27-24 win at the Stadio Olimpico, there was greater enterprise and a willingness to attack from their own half against a lively opponent.
“There’s the mentality side of it in terms of being braver by attacking further from the line and trying to challenge the opposition, giving them something to think about,” Steward said.
“We were probably guilty early doors of being too one-dimensional in terms of teams knowing what we were going to do, but hopefully by evolving the attack, it will ask a few more questions of the opposition. The more time we’ve had together, it helps.
“For us as players, we want to play winning rugby. Whatever style that is, we want to win Test matches, we want to win tournaments and have successful campaigns.”
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