Will Stuart has spoken about England’s display over Scotland (Image: Getty)
Will Stuart revealed he is making up for lost time after going from bit-part player to prop idol and Lions contender since the last World Cup.
The Bath man has finally nailed down ’s tight-head jersey, starting the last nine Tests since the summer tour game against New Zealand last July.
The 28-year-old made his debut as a replacement against France in 2020 but was mostly a bench bunny until the recent run with Kyle Sinckler and Dan Cole dominating the position.
Sinckler is in France, and Cole has been moved on, and Stuart has made the shirt his own by keeping his head down and doing what is in a tight-head’s job description and nothing too flash.
In the 26-25 win over France and Saturday’s 16-15 defeat of , England’s scrum has been rock solid with the 135kg Stuart at the centre of it.
But the 28-year-old admits he has blown chances to own the shirt in the past before his recent surge. Stuart said: “I’ve had opportunities over the past few years and I haven’t grasped them. 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.
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Will Stuart helped England to victory over Scotland (Image: Getty)
“Coming away from the last World Cup I’ve just tried to keep my head down and do my job well. Obviously, no one is really going to care if I’m throwing 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.
“The scrum has been good. Over the past few years we’d get penalties here and there but we’d also give them away. You’d maybe finish a game that’s four penalties to five in scrums, you’d want to get 3-0, that’s a better stat.”
Stuart won his 48th cap in the Calcutta Cup win over Scotland, England’s first for five years, at the weekend and the day might persuade mother Annabelle and Stuart’s partner Nancy to make the trip to Edinburgh next year.
He explained: “The last one we won in 2020 and that was my first Six Nations and there was Storm Ciara. My mum and girlfriend were not happy. They came up, I didn’t come off the bench and then we get on a plane but they were stuck in Edinburgh because of the storm. They have refused to go back up since.
“That was the last time we won. A few of the games I have played in have been really frustrating. Games like that I came off and, not to discredit Scotland, you don’t know how this has ended up like this. The last couple of years, we have really not been at the races and they have put us to the sword. We just needed the dam to break at some point.”
England regroup on Wednesday to prepare for Tests against Italy, a week on Sunday, and a resurgent Wales, in Cardiff, in the final round.