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'Yeah, I made a few errors but it was still an unbelievable experience... to say I'm a capped player is special'
George Furbank has reflected on his testing international rugby baptism with England last February, the 23-year-old full-back getting thrust in for a debut in the Parisian defeat to France and then playing in a hurricane six days later in the ugly win over Scotland.
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With Anthony Watson unavailable for the start of the Six Nations, Eddie Jones opted to rejig his English back three following the previous November’s World Cup final defeat to South Africa.
The starting full-back in Yokohama, Elliot Daly, was switched to join Jonny May on the wings in place of the absent Watson, creating the England opening for the rookie Furbank, who only broke into the Northampton side in 2018/19, to step up to the Test arena.
England were beaten by the French before quickly rebounding to edge the Scots. Injury then ruled Furbank out of the round three hammering of Ireland before rugby in Europe ground to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic in the weeks after the early March win over Wales.
Five months on from his England breakthrough, Furbank has now reflected on his sudden emergence, telling Jim Hamilton on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series, that he holds mixed emotions about how his opening caps went.
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“It feels weird to me when people say that (you’re an England player) so getting used to that is still quite surreal,” he said in the latest instalment of the popular video interview series. “It all happened very quickly.
“I have only got 30-something caps at Saints, so I’m still one of the young, inexperienced guys there. Going into the whole England set-up was unexpected to start off with, and then being picked in the France game was another unexpected event.
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“I have loved this season as a whole, especially with Six Nations the cherry on the top. I look back with mixed emotions. There are some emotions I had after the first couple of games as well, I don’t think I had as good a game as I could have had (against France), but it’s something I always wanted to do so being able to do that was pretty special.
“I try not to read stuff,” he added about the greater social media attention that came with becoming an England player. “That was one thing I had to learn to deal with, now you’re on a properly big stage compared to Northampton.
“At Northampton, it’s sort of the local areas that will talk about games and things like that, and you go to England and it’s the whole country involved and a massive media profile.
“I had a general idea of what people were saying from mates telling you, all that kind of stuff. I had a general idea but you just have to deal with it really.
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“I was quite lucky that the Scotland game was a reasonably quick turnaround so I could get my focus rather than dwelling on what happened in France, but I sort of look back with massive pride in the France game because it was my debut, it was something I wasn’t expecting to happen.
“Yeah, I made a few errors but it was still an unbelievable experience and to say I am a capped player means a lot, it’s special,” he said before going on to recall Storm Ciara which massively impacted on the action against Scotland in Edinburgh.
The lifts to training. The early starts to watch him play. The dirty kit and the muddy boots. The ups and the downs. @GeorgeFurbank's parents have supported him from his early days at @huntingdonrugby to now ?
Read more about his journey: https://t.co/yvuCQAGrdh pic.twitter.com/JMsNdwEaFn
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 4, 2020
“It was probably the worst conditions I have ever played in. It was a guessing game at times. As soon as the ball went up in the air it was a guessing game where it was going to go.
“Driving there in the morning I knew it was going to be wet. It’s not as enjoyable playing in the wet as it is in the dry but you deal with that, but when it’s windy as well and it wasn’t straight down the pitch, it was swirling, I thought, ‘Oh, here we go’.
“Luckily I wasn’t tested too much in the end which was quite nice but yeah, it was horrific conditions. Me and Jonny May at the end were getting the shivers because we weren’t really involved.
“It was forwards just picking and going from about 20 minutes from the end. But winning that game made it all worthwhile. If we came off with a loss it would have been a less enjoyable experience.”
Now, about those mischievous rumours… https://t.co/0Cb9MPuCaX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 16, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
16 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments