Ex-captain waxes lyrical about England’s ‘forgotten man’ and why ‘underdog story’ suits Northampton Saints at Bath
Chris Robshaw praises Northampton Saints full-back George Furbank.
George Furbank’s future lies with Harlequins but it is the time he has left at Northampton that will convince England they can’t do without him.
So says former Red Rose captain Chris Robshaw, who is in no doubt the Saints captain should be back in the England 15 jersey before he starts his new life in London.
“Getting George is massive for my old club, a huge signing,” said Robshaw, who spent his entire PREM career at the Stoop. “He has become almost the forgotten man of English rugby with all his injuries.
“But he’s now fit and last week against Castres looked back to his best. When he’s that good, playing at that speed, hitting the lines he hit, making the quality of decisions he did, for me he is England’s full-back.
Leader
“Freddie Steward has had his moments, Marcus [Smith] and Elliot [Daly] have also played there but I don’t think any of them have made the jersey their own.
“I look at George and he’s a leader, a player who brings out the best in those around him. He’s in his prime age-wise and you know he is driven to get back in the England mix.
“There’s definitely an opportunity for him there. Saints are top of the league and still in the Investec Champions Cup. They have a lot of very big matches before England‘s next game against South Africa.”
Furbank has not played for England since November 2024. He fractured a forearm in a club game the following month and aggravated the same injury in his comeback match.
Then came last season’s Champions Cup final and a concussion described as severe, followed by an assortment of calf and knee issues this term. For 18 months he could not catch a break.
Castres coming to town changed all that. Under the Friday night lights he scored one try and made two more to book Saints into this evening’s quarter-final at English champions Bath.
“He was brilliant,” said Robshaw, who is on punditry duty for Premier Sports at the Bordeaux-Toulouse quarter-final at a raucous Stade Chaban-Delmas on Sunday.
“Watching that, I wondered how different a story last season’s final might have been had George not taken that knock to the head inside the first five minutes.
“Bordeaux ended up winning [28-20] but George was a big loss that day. I’m sure what happened in that final will be driving him to finish his time at Northampton on a high.”
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Whether Saints are able to replicate the titanic performance that earned them the league points at Bath is the more pertinent point this evening.
They were unplayable that December night. Minus a host of front line stars, including Furbank, they trailed 21-14 after 52 minutes to a fully-loaded Bath side before plundering 27 unanswered points.
Saints confidence
Forewarned is forearmed and Bath, one suspects, won’t be so easily ambushed tonight.
Team boss Johann van Graan noted how Henry Pollock and Tommy Freeman ran riot in the closing stages, scoring four tries, and has packed his bench with power to guard against any second half drop off.
“A lot of people assume Bath will be too strong this time, both their forward pack and their overall strength in depth,” Robshaw said.
“I’d probably agree but that plays right into Saints’ mentality: the underdog story. You can picture them saying, ‘hear that, hear what people are saying? Let’s go there and make something happen’.”
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