A year ago, the 18-year-old had been playing for Millfield against Sedbergh in a schoolboy match, but such has been the impact he has made in six appearances in the new 10-team SRC tournament that Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt had no qualms in throwing him in at the deep end.
“Watching Steff all week and then watching him walk into the stadium and playing alongside players that he’s been following through his youth was a pleasure to see,” said Cardiff Rugby head coach Matt Sherratt after the game in Lyon.
“It doesn’t come much better than having Callum Sheedy inside him, Rey Lee-Lo outside him and Josh Adams behind him at the end of the game on his debut. I was really impressed with him all through the week in terms of his mentality towards the game.
“He genuinely looked forward to it, so let’s hope it’s one of many for a good young Cardiff player. Steff has trained all season with the senior squad and what impressed me most about him was that he is comfortable in the environment – he has a quiet self-belief.
“The SRC is there for player and coach development, and it has been great for Steff to be able to play week in, week out. That has given him a bank of senior rugby in his legs and that has led to him getting his chance at senior level.
“The way in which Steff has got his chance shows all the other youngsters playing with him in SRC that regional rugby is not that far away from them. They can look at Steff and see what’s possible.”
Loose head prop Rhys Barrett got his chance off the bench having been on duty in SRC for Cardiff. Back row man Mackenzie Martin, who was capped last season and during the summer, has also been able to get rugby under his belt with Cardiff RFC after returning from injury.
That has also been the case for Dragons outside half Will Reed, who was able to get a run with Newport to restore confidence before returning to the regional ranks. Newport also provided a number of players to the Dragons A team last month and head coach Ty Morris is happy with the way the partnership is working between the two teams.
Former Wales U20 skipper Harri Ackerman had his long-awaited return to action put on hold by Storm Darragh over the weekend, but once again SRC will offer him the chance to find his feet once again after the 19-year-old broke his leg against France at the Arms Park in March in the U20 Six Nations.
“Harri has been going at full tilt in training for the past month and is raring to go again. We’re delighted to give him his first chance to get back onto the field and it shows the faith the Dragons are putting in the SRC,” said Morris.
“Across the board we are seeing success stories from the slimmed down league. We’ve had Will Reed with us for a few weekends this season and Wales U20 wing Oli Andrew has had the chance to show the Dragons what he is capable of.
“I don’t think it will be long before he gets a URC game with the Dragons, and it was great to see Nathan Evans and Joe Peard step up and play so well for the Dragons A side recently. We are working hard with both of them to try to re-establish them as full-time professional players.
“That’s another important role of the SRC and it will be interesting to see how the Wales U20 team goes in the Six Nations after so many of their players have been exposed to regular rugby at SRC level.”
Morris’ men are sitting in third place in the table with a game in hand on Ebbw Vale and Cardiff. Last weekend’s 31-20 home win over Carmarthen Quins was their first outing in 35 days and the gaps in the calendar have proved a frustration for Morris.
“We are happy enough with where we are, but we would like to have a block of matches in order to build up some momentum. We had to wait more than a month for our last game against Quins,” said Morris.
Last season’s Wales U20 outside half Dan Edwards scored the bonus-point try for the Ospreys in their impressive win over the Lions.
