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England full-back Steward doubtful for Autumn rugby clash with Fiji / Photo: © AFP
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England full-back Steward doubtful for Autumn rugby clash with Fiji
Doubts have emerged over Freddie Steward's fitness to face Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday, with England coach Steve Borthwick facing a potentially tricky selection decision if the Leicester full-back is unavailable.
Steward suffered a hand injury during England's 25-7 win at home to Australia last weekend in their opening Autumn Nations Series international.
The 24-year-old, renowned for his ability under the high ball, finished the match but did not train Monday and is also expected to miss Tuesday's session.
That would leave him with just a couple of days to prove his fitness should Borthwick announce his team to play Fiji on Thursday as scheduled.
Two alternative full-backs in George Furbank and Elliot Daly are both currently injured, leaving the likes of Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman and Tom Roebuck as candidates for the No 15 shirt.
Both Roebuck (wing) and Freeman (outside centre) featured against Australia while Smith, primarily a fly-half but with Test caps at full-back to his credit, not even making the matchday 23 that played the Wallabies.
Fiji, ninth in the world rankings, are on paper the weakest side England will face in a November campaign that also sees New Zealand and Argentina visiting Twickenham.
A match against the Pacific islanders could allow Borthwick to experiment with No 8 Ben Earl at inside centre as England look to increase their positional flexibility ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Deploying back-row Henry Pollock, who came off the bench to score a match-clinching try against he Wallabies, on the wing is another option.
Earl, player of the match against the Wallabies, is ready to make the switch if needed.
"It's a massive strength of our squad and hopefully it is a strength of myself," said the Saracens loose forward.
"We have got a lot of boys now who could do a good job anywhere. Henry could do a very good job on the wing, Ted Hill when he was involved was very, very fast as well.
"A good game as a 12 or a 13 and a good game as a back row -- it's scary how aligned they are. The best 12s (inside centres), best sevens (openside flankers), best eights - they almost all have the same skill set. It is going to become the norm."
Earl added: "If I was ever to play 12, Steve would just want me to be myself and bring what I can bring. The moment you start losing a bit of your self-identity and start trying to shoehorn yourself into a different role, you lose what you bring."
M.Bartosz--GL
