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His journey began in Block A of the Claudia Parsons Halls at Loughborough University. Freddie Steward, a young economics student from Norfolk, was assigned a room directly above Dan Kelly, who had moved from Rochdale to study management.
As freshmen, they found their way into lecture halls, often dusting off hangovers from costume parties. They eventually found themselves teaming up on the rugby field. They remember the cold and muddy Wednesday afternoons. playing together in the centers for the first XV of the BUCS league.
Leeds Beckett out. About minus one,’ recalls Steward.
Dan Kelly (pictured) had been friends with Freddie Steward since their college days.
Steward lived above Kelly, but the duo became close when they bonded on the rugby field.
‘We lost. Distributed by a lot of northerners. It was horrible,” Kelly adds.
Few could have predicted what was waiting around the corner.
“If you had come to our old house, you would have been in for a surprise,” says Kelly, now 21. ‘He was wild! My room was right across from the Griffin pub and you had students raising a ruckus outside at 3am. Sometimes we’d come back from training and some of the guys were still in bed!
The time has changed. An apple-scented candle flickers on the open-plan dining table in her new home on the quiet outskirts of Leicester. They take a seat in his second-hand furniture and begin to reflect on his remarkable rise to the England team.
“This is Ellis Genge’s old couch,” Steward points out, spreading his long arms as he settles down.
The two are now ready to take on the world as they prepare to live with Steve Borthwick.
“We first played each other at school, Kirkham against Norwich, but Dan doesn’t remember me!” Stewart adds. ‘Dan wasn’t with the Tigers at the start so we met at university and became quite close before he joined Leicester. He was buzzing when he got shot and now here we are. It’s weird looking back because it happened so fast.
Sitting in one of Nemani Nadolo’s old dining room chairs, Kelly reflects on his own journey since Sale freed him when he was 18 years old. ‘In the past he played some rugby league, before going to university. I played a bit in Halifax, for Siddle, and then Oldham St Anne’s, which is the former club of Kyle Eastmond and George Ford. I enjoyed that.
‘I grew up in Rochdale and rugby took me to Kirkham Grammar where I boarded for two years. I went to Loughborough and now I’m here. I’ve lived all over the place, been thrown from one pillar to another, so I haven’t lived at home since I was a little bit younger.
The duo won the Premiership with Leicester last season and are still living together in a new location.
In the last 18 months, their careers have taken off, swapping the campus rugby ground for Twickenham Stadium. They won the Premiership with Leicester Tigers last season, becoming key components in the title-winning team of Steve Borthwick and Kevin Sinfield.
“Steve and Kev work very well together,” says Steward. ‘The detail and precision in the game plans is phenomenal. As a player, you feel so prepared during the week that it’s almost like the game is already over.
“When Steve first walked in, he had us watch a basketball documentary about the Golden State basketball team. Then there was one about Cadiz FC. This little town that made it to La Liga. We took and translated their slogan that the fight is non-negotiable.’
With Borthwick focused on the forwards, Sinfield worked more closely with the full backs.
Steward was a key part of the England team that struggled in the autumn internationals.
“Coming from the league, Kev was fairly new to the union, but his depth of knowledge is outstanding,” says Kelly. You just want to play for him. I remember watching that Leeds team in the Challenge Cup finals with Zak Hardaker, Rob Burrow, Danny McGuire.
‘Kev was always the best guy, so it was a bit surreal when he first came to the Tigers. Boys from the south, boys from Norfolk like Fred, they don’t really watch rugby league, but for me it was amazing when Kev came on.
Going on a tangent, they reminisce about their roots on a recent trip to the North Norfolk coast for Jack Van Poortvliet’s birthday. The scrum half lives a hundred meters down the street and shares a house with Ollie Chessum and Cameron Henderson. They drift around, playing dart tournaments in the garage during their downtime.
We get food poisoning if we go out for dinner! says kelly. There is a large Leicester contingent from Norfolk. It’s lovely in there, you could make yourself very comfortable. We played a great soccer game on the beach, 10 of us. We have to drive all these tractors, I almost shot Ollie Chessum off the back of one. It was a bit of a different scene for me. There aren’t many fields in Rochdale!
Both players are ready to play for England again under new manager Steve Borthwick.
Laughing, Steward adds, ‘Jack gets his Farmers Weekly subscription sent to boot camp. It’s all for show. He has about 100 of them unopened. He claims that he reads about crop yields!
Full of youthful energy, they are now set for a meeting with Borthwick and Sinfield in the national colours. They got the phone call a fortnight ago, telling them they were part of shaping England’s new image.
“I woke up Sunday and had two missed calls from Steve,” says Steward. We had a good lie, didn’t we? I called him back right away and he told me he was in, then I ran upstairs to DK to ask if he got a call and he said ‘No’. He was upset for about half an hour.
Kelly continues: ‘He called you, JVP, Ches. You left to go to Sainsbury’s and that’s when she called me. It was a happy home. First I called my mom and she was crying. That’s the best thing, seeing your parents proud, because they have taken you from A to B for 10 years of my life. They were all happy. We went to Nandos to celebrate!
Steward admitted he originally missed Borthwick’s call telling him he was on the side
With a clean coaching slate, they have the world of rugby at their feet. Steward already has 17 caps for England, while Kelly is catching up after his early progress was slowed by injury.
Commenting on Steward’s success, he says: “I could be sitting at home in Manchester watching England games with some mates saying, ‘I live with that guy!’ Proud housemate what can I say. It’s so good. I wish now we could do it together which would be even better. Seeing guys like Fred, JVP and Ches come in almost gives you a boost.
With midfield one of the most debated areas, Kelly offers an abrasive and hard-working option in the number 12 shirt.
“Dan hasn’t had it easy the last few months,” says Steward. “He fought through the college system to get a professional contract and that says a lot about him as a guy.
Steve Borthwick took over as England head coach following Eddie Jones sacking
‘He doesn’t give up when it gets tough. In the back of my mind, I have always had confidence in him. It’s weird looking back because it happened so fast. I could see how much he means to him and his family when he called me at Sainsbury’s.
Pausing for a second, he continues, “Hopefully getting to sing the anthem together would be a special moment.”
Offering a final moment of reflection, Kelly says: ‘Sometimes we feel guilty about always looking ahead. It opens your eyes when you sit down and talk about it like this. The trips we’ve been on have obviously been very different, but we’ve almost made it together in a way. We’ve been there for each other and it’s been fucking nice.
The conversation turns back to Block A of the Claudia Parsons hallways as they pose for pictures. The beginning of a young friendship. “You should put on your Rocky robe,” says Steward. ‘Only if you wear Ivan Drago!’ Kelly replies, running upstairs to find her robe. They’ve already picked up a few souvenirs along the way and you suspect many more to come.