LONG READ Slow-burner George Furbank catches light as England attempt to storm All Blacks stronghold

With every passing Test match George Furbank plays, Freddie Steward must be feeling more and more resigned to life in the shadows. Steward has done nothing wrong in an England shirt – you would be hard pressed to find a better high ball operator – but Furbank is disappearing off into the distance at a rate of knots.

He has made the No 15 jersey his own over the past year and having introduced himself to a new audience with an outstanding display in Dunedin, this weekend in Auckland offers another chance to showcase his growing authority in the role.

It takes a lot to impress the Kiwis in their own backyard if you are wearing white but they liked what they saw from Furbank and not just with the matinee-idol moustache.

Five inches shorter and two and a half stones lighter, he cannot match Steward for ballast but if England want to keep on developing their attacking game it is the silken Saint rather than the towering Tiger who has to be the go-to man.

“He’s the nuts,” said England World Cup winner Will Greenwood. “People were asking why England were dropping the best high ball specialist in the world but he’s tough, he’s a good last defender, his positional sense is good and it is his influence on the attacking game – and the width and the threat he puts on it – that stretches the field and opens it up.

“You need to have people that are stretching the field because that’s when someone in the opposition will be exposed like the limping zebra in the pack.

“If you don’t stretch it, you don’t know who the weak link is. You don’t know the one who’s heart rate is 190 and literally has had to tap out of a defensive set and just go: ‘I can’t get up.’.

“He’s still learning a little bit. Time in the saddle will hopefully give him an understanding that there is more time at the back sometimes than you think. But when you talk about time, he looks like a player who’s got bags of it.

“He’s not immediately in the realms of Blanco and players like that but I think he’s a quality player and I’m really excited to see how far he can go.”

I don’t know what the scales say but he certainly looks like he has put some beef on and now he looks really powerful. He’s not someone you think of as tough or hard in a fighting sense but he can dish out big shots and take big shots. I’ve seen a huge growth in him.

At 27, Furbank is no overnight sensation. While his Northampton teammates knew he was a good footballer when he emerged from their academy, the 50-times capped Tom Wood did not immediately spot a future international star.

His dream at school, when as a talented slow left-armer he was more Jack Leach than Jack Nowell, had been to play at Lord’s rather than Twickenham.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t necessarily think of him in rugby terms as a Test match animal,” said Wood. He was always a very competent, self-assured player but when he first came through, while he was nimble and athletic and elusive, he appeared slight in stature.

“I don’t know what the scales say but he certainly looks like he has put some beef on and now he looks really powerful. He’s not someone you think of as tough or hard in a fighting sense but he can dish out big shots and take big shots. I’ve seen a huge growth in him. I think he has been the form player for club and country in England over the past year to 18 months.”

If there were still any lingering doubts over his physical side, they were banished in Dunedin. The second half rib-arranger from Sevu Reece that drilled him into the ground was brushed off without fuss.

“A shot like that can rock someone mentally as well as physically but he just got straight back up, no messing,” said Wood. He has got a very good temperament. Everything is water off a duck’s back to him. He has had a few things that haven’t gone his way but he just rolls with it and cracks on. He’s always got a smile on his face, he loves a coffee with the boys. He’s not someone who’s just rugby, rugby, rugby. He can be intense and serious but I think he has a good balance to him.

“I remember him and Alex Mitchell doing cringey TikTok dances during lockdown. That didn’t resonate with me at all and it made me think: ‘am I an old man now?’ but that sort of stuff is great for a team’s culture.

They will be looking to Furbank, who beat six defenders and made 85 metres last weekend – 27 of them after contact – for a backline lead.

“They are light-hearted characters and they made rugby fun again for people like me who probably had been a bit too worked up about it for a period of time. You can give your all on the pitch but if you’re not enjoying what you do what’s the point?”

Furbank looks like he is having fun in New Zealand. Now though comes Eden Park which carries all the joy of a shuttered up amusement park for visiting sides.

While England will be emboldened by running New Zealand so close last weekend, their task will be considerably harder in Auckland. With their first game in eight months under the belts, the All Blacks will be slicker than a week ago so England will need to be better too.

They will be looking to Furbank, who beat six defenders and made 85 metres last weekend – 27 of them after contact – for a backline lead.

Double trouble 🔥

Who’s looking forward to seeing @SaintsRugby‘s Tommy Freeman and George Furbank combine again for @EnglandRugby this weekend?#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/pKgZg0X0jN

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) July 3, 2024

There is a temptation, as a player with the skillset to have played Test rugby as a stand-off, to station him nearer the action and get his hands on the ball more often. But Greenwood feels England should resist the idea of using him as an auxiliary Marcus Smith.

“I think the reality is with Sladey out there we’ve got two playmakers out there. Yes, it’d be nice to have three but you don’t need to force it. If you’ve got those two playmakers, actually I’d be asking George just to go find space,” said Greenwood, speaking on behalf of NOW.

“I don’t think necessarily, I would be saying to him at the moment: “Go get your hands on the ball more.” I would say: “Go find space because you’re good at it.” Then it’s Marcus’s and Henry’s job to get it to him.”

The expectation is that New Zealand, who are 1-4 favourites, will close out the series. That may well end up being the case. But by the close of business at Eden Park, if Furbank backs up his First Test, the discussion of who gets to wear the England No 15 jersey will be over.

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