After the Leicester Tigers’ comeback, Frederick Steward remained “angry” at England’s semi-final loss in the Rugby World Cup.
Freddie Steward has said that he is still “sore” about England’s heartbreaking 2023 Rugby World Cup semifinal loss to South Africa. When he returned to his club duties with the Leicester Tigers, who play Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby on Saturday, the full-back acknowledged that the “emotion is still very raw”. “I don’t think I’ll get over that game for a long time,” he said.
The shocking Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat of South Africa by England, according to Freddie Steward, is “still very raw”.
Along with his England teammates Ben Youngs, Ollie Chessum, Dan Cole, and George Martin, as well as Julian Montoya of Argentina and Handre Pollard and Jasper Wiese of South Africa, the full-back has now resumed his club responsibilities with the Leicester Tigers.
The World Cup delegation returned, and the team was shown a highlights clip. The compilation included Pollard’s game-winning penalty in the 77th minute, which defeated England and advanced South Africa to the tournament final.
“That was the nail in the coffin for us, which was a bit sore, but the boys found that funny,” Steward told BBC Radio Leicester. “I don’t think I’ll get over that game for a long time.
“It’s a tough one to talk about because, on one hand, you are unbelievably proud of an incredible performance, the way we went about our work that night, and how close we got.
“Then, on the other hand, there is the disappointment of getting within one point of the world champions, so it is a difficult one to reflect on. The emotion is still very raw.”
The steward saw the defeat as motivation to avoid similar results in the future.
“If anything, it adds fuel to the fire,” he said. “Having experienced that now, I know I certainly don’t want to be in that headspace again; it was emotional at full-time.
“When you get to within that fine margin, it really hurts and it’s hard to deal with, but we were fortunate to have the third and fourth place finals, and we got that reward at the end.”
Leicester Tigers will host Harlequins on Saturday after a difficult start to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby season. The side are second from bottom after just one victory against Bath, losing to Saracens last weekend.
Tigers manager Dan McKellar will be hoping the return of his international players will give the team a boost.
In contrast, Harlequins are second in the table with three wins from four matches, most recently beating Newcastle at the Twickenham Stoop.
“I’m glad the first one back is a home game, I just can’t wait to be back and run out there,” Steward stated.
Even though Mattioli Woods Welford Road is much smaller than both Twickenham and the Stade de France, it has a unique atmosphere. As someone who has grown up watching Leicester and went through the academy, I don’t think it will ever be difficult to get excited for a game there. With these people, I can’t wait to put the shirt back on and go enjoy myself outside.”
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