THREE EPISODES INTO season two of Netflix’s rugby documentary series, Six Nations: Full Contact, the viewer is pulled into Freddie Steward’s story.

The scene has been set through previous episodes as we meet Steward’s family and watch the England fullback call his girlfriend to let her know he’s starting against Italy. Then we hear of ‘The Borthwick Walk’, where England manager Steve Borthwick asks a player for a chat only to break the news they’re not playing at the weekend.

Steward comes into Borthwick’s firing line as England prepare to face Scotland, and the moment is teased out as Steward’s teammates watch on. Steward rings his girlfriend, the emotion clear on his face and in his voice. He sits in front of a camera as a Netflix interviewer asks why he’s been dropped.

“Yeah, it’s always something I prefer to keep to myself,” Steward says. “I had a great conversation with Steve and we talked about what I needed to do from a rugby perspective to get back in the team and that’s all I needed to hear.”

Scene.

This a common theme of series two of Full Contact – available on Netflix from today – as the episodes set up an interesting story and place it neatly on the tee, only to shank the kick wide. 

Overall, it feels like a rinse and repeat of last year’s effort, and ultimately Full Contact has to go down as a missed opportunity for both Netflix and rugby as a sport.

Last year’s debut series came and went without making much of an impact and struggled to hit the desired ratings outside of Ireland, where it performed well across its first few weeks. Yet despite that disappointment, series two follows the same format. Any peeks behind the scenes are fleeting, moments which seem prime for further exploration are quickly passed by and a wariness toward the media is evident throughout. Shaun Edwards, the France defence coach, asks us “How many Grand Slams have the critics won compared to me?”

The cameras are unable to add much meat to the bones. Scotland’s loss to Italy in round four is clearly a bitter low for Gregor Townsend’s men, but instead of a proper look at the aftermath in the Scottish camp, we get some shots of a dejected looking dressing room and Townsend telling the viewer Italy “are a quality team and deserved to win the game”.

When the cameras do step out of the stadium and into the homes and lives of the subjects, many of the scenes come across as scripted. Steward’s interactions with his parents and a particularly proud grandfather are warm and genuine. The shots of Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada settling into his new Milan home, less so. Quesada’s wife asks when Italy’s first game is, and is informed, to her surprise, “this Saturday we play England”. One imagines that might have come up at some stage during the move.

Freddie Steward is a big part of the England storyline. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

As with season one, the Italians are heavily featured, following Quesada’s first campaign in charge and the wedding plans of back-rower Seb Negri. Finn Russell is the Scotland star, alongside Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe, while in Wales, the cameras detail the contrasting career arcs of veteran star George North and young captain Dafydd Jenkins. England get top billing as Steward, Joe Marler, Jamie George, George Ford and Marcus Smith all enjoy good screen time.

Indeed, the series starts with a lengthy sequence of Smith shopping for luxury cars – complete with champagne flute holders –  and meeting agents to discuss his potential marketing ability. The idea that rugby has never been more glamorous is rammed home at the start without really being revisited. 

The French manage to add some colour. Scrum-half Nolann le Garrec is stopped for a selfie in Brittany while Fabien Galthié discusses the magical properties of a “tortured” oak tree, sprinkling his interviews with quotes from Napoleon and Jean Pierre-Rives.

It would be fair to say the Irish camp aren’t quite as enigmatic, and they don’t properly rear their heads until episode five. Peter O’Mahony is the focal point of the Irish story, with no other Ireland player getting an individual storyline.

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Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony weighs up retirement in the season finale. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

The theme around O’Mahony is that of the battle-hardened warrior who sees the end in sight. There is a fleeting visit to O’Mahony’s home, where the Ireland captain tends to his garden. We’re back in the O’Mahony house in the series finale, but after watching other players discuss their own tough times with those closest to them – Steward video-calling his girlfriend from England camp, Van der Merwe on the couch with his wife – O’Mahony contemplates retirement in a brief chat with the IRFU’s head of communications at the kitchen table.

There are plenty of interesting stories throughout the Irish squad, but they go untold. As for Andy Farrell, we know the Ireland head coach is an engaging communicator but any insight is limited to a handful of short clips.

Unfortunately, if you come to the series as a rugby fan who watched last year’s Six Nations, you’re not going to learn anything new here, and it’s no surprise the arrival of series two comes on the back of confirmation the show won’t be returning for a third installment.  

Netflix are increasingly interested in live sport, putting their money behind the Jake Paul v Mike Tyson event last year and recently adding live WWE wrestling to their offering. Rugby might have a future on streaming services yet, but Full Contact won’t have left the Netflix audience hungry for more.