Freddie Steward says England’s first game at Twickenham since the World Cup is an opportunity to “draw a line in the sand”. They were booed off the pitch after their last home game and he hopes fans will “explode” when Wales visit in the Six Nations on Saturday.
England lost to Fiji for the first time against Twickenham last August and fans expressed their displeasure after the game. The disconnect continued at the World Cup, where fans could be heard booing between a thrilling performance against Argentina in the opening game and the semi-final loss to South Africa.
Since then, Jamie George has succeeded Owen Farrell as captain and the Saracens hooker has discussed with the rest of the squad and the Rugby Football Union how to improve the Twickenham experience. England arrive at Twickenham on Saturday having beaten Italy in their opening match and Stewart has called on supporters to help turn the home ground into a fortress.
“We’ve talked about it as a team, how we can make Twickenham a place where we can do our best and make it a difficult place,” the Leicester Tigers defender said.
“We’re lucky that we have an incredible group of fans who have played a role in that. We’re back home which also means we’re a new group. It’s essentially a new beginning. We’ve hosted the World Cup, We’re at the beginning of a new cycle, with new faces, new coaches, and this is our chance to draw a line in the sand.
“As a player, when you play for England you are expected to win and when you don’t win, understandably you don’t have the fans around you and there were some instances of that in the warm-up games.
“That’s what it felt like during the World Cup when we got to the semi-finals. As players we always want it but we have to earn it with our performances on the pitch. They are at the heart of what we do. We want Twicken We want it to be a place where we want to be, play in front of our fans and represent them.
“I would never blame the fans and say they need to lift [the players]. They did it on the basis of what we did, so the responsibility is ours. “
England, meanwhile, hope Bath’s Ollie Lawrence will be available for the match against Scotland on February 24 after attack coach Richard Wigglesworth revealed he could be recalled to training camp this week.
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Lawrence was sidelined with a hip injury and there were initial fears he would miss the entire game. He missed the line-breaking ability in England’s narrow win over Italy and, while he will also miss the game against Wales, he could return for the trip to Murrayfield.
England are also hopeful that Leicester goalkeeper George Martyn – currently in the Bagshot training camp – will be available against Scotland. “Oli Lawrence could be coming this weekend or next week, but he’s not available this weekend,” Wigglesworth said. “George Martin is with us in camp this week doing rehab and will not be able to attend over the weekend.”
