Will Stuart could be forgiven for feeling slightly miffed at the mad rush to anoint the next prince of props in this hugely promising generation of English tightheads.
The likes of Sale’s Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Gloucester’s Afo Fasogbon and Stuart’s Bath team-mate Billy Sela, whom he says will be a “world beater”, may well be the future. But right now Stuart is the present and won’t be going anywhere soon as the anchor of an increasingly impressive England scrum. Against Scotland, it was the one facet of the game that England dominated.
At 28, Stuart is firmly in his prime and has grown from potential liability to potential Lion over the past 12 months. If you were picking on the form of the first three rounds of the Six Nations – notwithstanding Tadhg Furlong’s absence – Stuart would be at the front of the queue.
He has made nine consecutive Test starts and finally feels at home in his surroundings. Since making his debut in 2020, Stuart has generally found himself in the shadow of Kyle Sinckler and Dan Cole on his never-ending retirement tour.
By his own admission, he had not done enough to nail down his previous chances as a starter. Hence Stuart understands why people have been so quick to look for his successor while he is in situ, although being outside the spotlight perfectly suits his personality. “No, for me, I’ve had opportunities over the past few years and I haven’t grasped them,” Stuart said. “I’ve been playing on and off for the last five years, off the bench for the first few years then had a few chances to start and, coming away from the last World Cup, I’ve just tried to keep my head down and do my job well.
“No one is really going to care if I throw 30-metre skip passes if I’m getting drilled in the scrum, so I just do my job well, consistently well, and keep my head below the parapet where you can’t get shot.”
Last summer, Stuart was given a torrid time by loosehead Ethan de Groot in the two Test defeats by New Zealand. But England head coach Steve Borthwick continued to back him and he duly evened the odds against the All Blacks in the autumn.
After three rounds of the Six Nations, Stuart has yet to concede a penalty, translating his good form for Bath. The Premiership leaders have arguably the strongest collection of props anywhere in Europe with Thomas du Toit, Archie Griffin, Beno Obano, Francois van Wyk and Sela, which has brought a new level out of Stuart. “They’re so hard to scrummage against so I’ve had to get better while being there,” Stuart said.
Bath scrum coach Stevie Scott, the former Scotland hooker, has placed a big emphasis on ensuring every set-piece in training is a contest and that each scrum is as low as possible to the ground. While Scott can point to all manner of technical improvements that Stuart has made with the positioning of his feet, the biggest difference he has noticed is his confidence.
“I think it is believing in yourself,” Scott told Telegraph Sport. “He is one hell of a size of a man so the big thing he has always had is huge potential but now he is believing in his potential. Technically he is so much better. He has had experiences in the past where he has struggled, going back to the All Blacks last summer, but then he took the learning from that and he delivered in the autumn.
“He has really benefited from training with the quality of props we have at Bath. Whenever we go on the training field, we make sure every rep counts. So he is scrummaging against Beno and Thomas every week and I believe his consistency has grown massively from that.”
Prop feels benefits of controlling aggression
According to stats from Opta, England’s scrum has won five penalties and three three kicks at the scrum in this year’s Six Nations versus two penalties and two free-kicks conceded. Stuart says a particular emphasis has been placed on being “clean” by tempering their aggression in both matches and in training.
“It has been a big step forward for us,” Stuart said. “Over the past few years, we’d get penalties here and there but we’d also give away… you’d maybe finish a game that’s four penalties to five. You’d want to get 3-0, that’s a better stat, being clean in Test rugby. Because it’s such big moments, it’s really important.
“There’s a big onus in training. You come into England camp, there are only going to be a certain amount of people who play. The scrum is going to be one of the most combative places and it’s really competitive but you have to know that you’re training for everyone to get better, not trying to pop someone out the top or collapse it.
“Sometimes you’re going to get drilled in the scrum but you’ve got take your medicine rather than collapse it for the good of the team. It’s been about training clean. We got pay-off from that in November, being really clean, apply pressure and be more dominant on our own ball.”
