My size used as ammunition against me - Steward

Freddie Steward has earned 38 Test caps for England

Too big, too slow. England and Leicester Tigers full-back Freddie Steward knows the criticism well.

Standing at 6ft 4in (196cm) and weighting in at 16st 8lb (107kg), the 24-year-old accepts he is sizeable target.

From being England's preferred full-back at the 2023 World Cup, which he finished with a bronze medal, he has been in an evolving battle to reclaim the number 15 shirt.

Northampton's George Furbank made it his for much of 2024, only to break his arm playing for Saints in the European Champions Cup in December.

Steward started last year's Six Nations campaign at full-back, but after their opening defeat by Ireland it was playmaker Marcus Smith who took on the role for much of what remained of the tournament. Smith would then go on to play at full-back for the British and Irish Lions in the summer.

The agile and crafty were put ahead of Steward – each seen as more attack-minded and versatile options.

"I think being the size, the weight and shape I am, it gives people ammunition to chop me down more than other 15s," Steward told BBC Radio Leicester.

"I see other 15s make similar mistakes, getting beaten one-on-one and people don't tend to say anything, but when it's me because of the size I am its always, 'he's too slow and he's too immobile', which is frustrating.

"But that is the sport we play – you go out there and you are open to opinion. Whether I agree with what a lot of people say is down to me."

And he certainly doesn't.

Steward spoke last year of realising he would need to work on other areas of his game if he was to reclaim his England spot, with his knack for defusing the high ball – a skill that England boss Steve Borthwick once called a "super strength" – no longer seen as enough on the international stage.

"I'm aware of what (criticism) has been said and I'd never be a player to make excuses, but what I am doing is working unbelievably hard at those things," he said.

"But more importantly, I'm working on things that coaches want me to and what is going to get me back in the team, not what people sat on the sofa are saying."

Steward's fine form for Tigers last season - in a campaign that ended in a narrow Premiership Grand Final defeat by Bath - saw him recalled for England in the summer.

And it was on tour in Argentina, where he scored two tries in two Test appearances, that Steward said he let his "rugby do the talking".

When selected for the series against Los Pumas, he had been described as the "forgotten man" - having featured only twice for England during the 2024-25 season before that.

"That tour for me, there's no two ways about it, was an opportunity for me to get a foot back in the door and I think I performed well," Steward said.

"I took that opportunity and put a bit of pressure on myself, which I think actually helped my performances.

"I needed to perform, I was senior player out there, I hadn't been playing in Test matches before that so there was a lot pressure to sort of, not remind Steve [Borthwick], but show that I am still a Test match quality 15.

"I was loving it out there and it got the best out of me."