George Furbank has made it two tries in two England games, since he returned to the test match stage in the 2024 Six Nations. The Northampton man has been in inspired form for the Saints this season, and rightfully earned himself a call-up into Steve Borthwick’s squad to contest against Freddie Steward for the number 15 jersey.
Furbank made his first England appearence since the 2022 Six Nations, when he was picked to start against Scotland a fortnight ago. The 27-year-old marked the occassion with a well taken try after little more than 10 minutes, as England had a blistering start up in Murrayfield. Despite the eventual defeat to Scotland, Furbank kept the momentum rolling through the training week, and was again named in the 15 shirt for the testing battle with Ireland.
Furbank once again rose to the occasion, and even managed to score his first England try under the bright lights of Twickenham. The fullback spoke to the press after the unforgettable win against Andy Farrell’s side, about how he is enjoying this rejuvenated run in the England back-three. The Northampton man was delighted to see his name on the Twickenham big screens, in what he called a ‘special moment’.
“I was very happy obviously to be picked again and it’s nice to get a couple of games in a row. I’ve got some very strong competition in Fred, who’s being class for the 30-odd games that he’s paid for England and he’s incredibly consistent.
“So I know I’ve got to be at my best to keep that jersey. That probably wasn’t there against Scotland but I’m glad he stuck with me and I felt a bit more comfortable going into this game.”
“It was a pretty special moment. I was half contemplating diving over the line and I was like, ‘No, I need to make this a little bit easier for Fordy’ (George Ford) ! I tried to run round a bit. It was an incredibly special day and my first experience of a home Six Nations game as well. I’m glad it was a good one.”
“We worked on being on the same page and sticking to a game plan and that work paid off. We’ve still got a long way to for our attack to be as fluid as we want it to be but we know we’ve got the players in the squad that when our attack clicks, we’re going to be a dangerous team.”
Furbank then went on to describe what was going through his head, as Marcus Smith slotted the match-winning drop goal in the final moments against Ireland. Unfortunately for Furbank, he was unable to witness the moment that has since been replayed countless times on social media, with the roar of the Twickenham crowd signifying to him that England had secured a late victory.
“It feels a bit surreal, to be honest. But it was an unbelievable game. We spoke about sticking in the fight and putting what we wanted to on the pitch and I think we showed that and we did that really well.
“Those close games are almost more satisfying, aren’t they? Obviously, Marcus hits the drop to win it but I was on the floor at the time, so I didn’t really know what was going on, but I heard the crowd and that gave me the sign that we’d won the game. I didn’t know what to feel at the time. I was just pretty exhausted but elated at the same time.”
Marcus Smith took the headlines for his moment of magic, in what marked the return to the England squad for the talismanic Harlequin. The win over Ireland also saw the comeback of Alex Mitchell, who was forced out of the Scotland defeat due to a knee ligament injury. Furbank praised the resiliency of his Northampton teammate to battle back for the Ireland match, as Mitchell dictated the attacking tempo with great aplomb.
“He’s a bit of a joke, isn’t he? He’s pretty handy at rugby to be able to just come back from injury, having not played… it wasn’t a long one but that can interrupt form sometimes. But he came back into that nine jersey and made the team tick. He is incredibly dangerous around the breakdown and allows us to have speed of ball as well which is huge for us.”
Mitchell made way for a milestone appearence, when Danny Care came off the bench for England against Ireland. By doing so, the Harlequin scrum-half made his 100th test cap, and became only the sixth male to achieve the accolade for England. There were plentiful celebrations after the match, as Furbank was delighted to see the halfback achieve the feat.
“Rugby is a bit of a rollercoaster, isn’t it? It plays with your emotions. We were delighted to get over the line, massively for Danny on his 100th game. Not many people get to that milestone for their country so we wanted to celebrate with him. He had his family in there afterwards and that was pretty special.”
From one of England’s more veteran players, to one of Borthwick’s brightest young talents, Furbank then discussed the first test start of Manny Feyi-Waboso. The 21-year-old made marked the occassion with a solid shift at Twickenham, as he ran out for the full 80 minutes and asked plenty of questions of the Irish defence.
“He’s an incredibly calm bloke.” Furbank added. “If I had been on the journey he has been on, I probably wouldn’t be as calm as him. He obviously has massive belief in his game and he’s been showing that for Exeter. He’s a handful, isn’t he?”
Turning his attention back to the win over Ireland, Furbank explained how such a monumental victory can not be understated heading into the final round of the 2024 Six Nations. England take on France to close out the tournament, in what is the final match of this weekend’s ‘Super Saturday’. Should Ireland lose to Scotland an hour prior, then the fate falls to England to secure the Six Nations title in Lyon.
“Yeah, they are an incredibly well-drilled team and very good in that shape. All the boys know what they are doing and they’re on the same page. We spoke about interrupting that rhythm and we felt that if we did that then we could take advantage from there. That plan worked most of the time.”
“It was just about us staying calm and sticking to what we were doing. We felt like we were on top for the majority of that game and that gameplan was working. They never pulled away enough to really worry us. We spoke about sticking together, staying on the same page and carrying on with what we were doing.’”
“We are going to keep pretty grounded and work on different areas of our game. We’ll probably watch that game tomorrow, but we’ll enjoy tonight first.”