{"id":729234,"date":"2026-01-29T19:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/729234\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T19:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:36:13","slug":"englands-freddie-steward-urges-law-tweak-to-stop-spoiling-tactics-in-aerial-battles-rugby-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/729234\/","title":{"rendered":"England\u2019s Freddie Steward urges law tweak to stop spoiling tactics in aerial battles | Rugby union"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freddie Steward believes rugby union\u2019s rulers should review the laws around contestable kicks that are making it \u201cmore difficult than ever\u201d for those under aerial fire. With the Six Nations<\/a> championship commencing next week, England\u2019s full-back wants one-handed \u201cflapping\u201d by chasing players to be banned, with all jumpers required to make a two-handed effort to catch the ball.<\/p>\n

With the England coach, Steve Borthwick, suggesting he expects Wales to kick the ball \u201c50 times\u201d when they come to Allianz Stadium next weekend, Steward says it is now much harder to collect high balls with consistent success because of the spoiling tactics of onrushing opponents encouraged by the crackdown on defensive escort runners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably more difficult than ever to come down clean with the ball with this new law,\u201d said Steward, confirming he would be \u201ca big advocate\u201d of a tweak to the existing regulation. \u201cA law change where they have to make a genuine attempt to catch the ball would be really positive. It\u2019s too easy for wingers just to be a nuisance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably lacks a bit of skill just being able to throw your body in and flail an arm. I\u2019ve struggled with it because I have that expectation of myself that you want to come down with absolutely everything. It\u2019s very difficult to do that nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steward, in line to start at No 15 against Wales, has also revealed the situation has forced him to alter his technique in a way that puts opponents at greater risk of injury. \u201cBefore I could probably go up with less speed and less height,\u201d said Steward. \u201cNow you have to be at max speed and max height and get your knee in the right position if you want to come down with the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much more physical in the air now. It used to be quite a safe space. Now you have to be braver and almost expect a collision every time you go up. I used to turn my body a bit and almost lead with my hip. Now I\u2019m trying to catch a lot squarer so my knee is a genuine battering ram.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a winger is trying to flap they often turn their back so it\u2019s almost like: \u2018Right, I\u2019m going to try and knee you in the back as hard as I can.\u2019 As hard as that is, that makes them think twice about coming and flapping again. It\u2019s almost prioritising the physical bit rather than the ball which is a bit different. But that\u2019s something I\u2019ve had to do. You have to adapt if that\u2019s the way the game goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clamping down on flying \u201ctaps\u201d would effectively mirror the situation surrounding one-handed knockdowns by defenders that are penalised by referees. On the plus side, the increasing number of loose balls potentially offers more opportunities for broken-field running and counterattacks. It has yet, however, to reduce repetitive box kicking by teams hoping to benefit from any \u201ccrumbs\u201d that might fall their way.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Steward predicts there will be plenty more \u201cup-and-unders\u201d in this year\u2019s Six Nations. \u201cI think we will see an increase in contestable kicking in this tournament, for sure. With the law changes it\u2019s become a tactic a lot of teams will go for. Teams are being smart now and you can see them putting players on the other side of the ball. It\u2019s almost like a game of chess.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are others, however, who like the existing law on the grounds it encourages a fairer contest for the ball. The world champions, South Africa, unsurprisingly, would prefer to stick with the status quo with more defensive knock-ons potentially leading to more scrums. \u201cWe are going in the right direction with how the aerial contest has been cleaned up,\u201d said the assistant Springbok coach Mzwandile Stick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freddie Steward believes rugby union\u2019s rulers should review the laws around contestable kicks that are making it \u201cmore…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-729234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115980073915569756","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}