A few years ago, Jon Bon Jovi was performing to 40,000 adoring fans in Helsinki when he slipped and ruptured his meniscus, the ‘shock absorber’ bit of cartilage in your knee. He was advised to immediately cancel his six-week European stadium tour, but found a specialist doctor in Ireland who got him back on stage in a week.
At the beginning of this season, George Furbank flew out to Dublin to tap into the same knowledge Bon Jovi received at the Sports Surgery Clinic. The Northampton and England full-back has been riddled with injuries over the past 16 months, suffering a broken arm and subsequent calf issues during his rehabilitation.
‘There are periods that have been incredibly frustrating,’ Furbank tells Daily Mail Sport.
A metal plate has been implanted in Furbank’s forearm but a stress fracture around one of the pins delayed his comeback. The Saints medical team have designed a bespoke ‘shin pad’ to protect the limb in collisions that has become ‘pretty minging’ after a few months of use.
‘Hopefully I’m in a place now where I can put a run together,’ adds Furbank, who will start for Northampton in their Champions Cup last 16 game against Castres on Friday night. ‘We’re going for Europe again. A lot of our messaging is about making memories and playing in places not many people get to experience. We think we have a squad at Saints that can perform and we showed what we can do when we got to the final last year.’
Injuries to England players Fin Smith, Trevor Davison, Alex Coles and Alex Mitchell will not help Northampton’s cause, yet they remain favourites against a Castres team who are eighth in the Top 14.
‘Hopefully I’m in a place now where I can put a run together,’ says George Furbank, who will start for Northampton in their Champions Cup last 16 game against Castres on Friday night
Furbank is one of a host of Saints players in the England squad, as they continue to play a free-flowing brand of attacking rugby
Furbank featured in Steve Borthwick’s squad throughout the Six Nations but he has not added to his 14 Test caps since 2024
England’s coaches will be watching. Furbank featured in Steve Borthwick’s squad throughout the Six Nations but he has not added to his 14 Test caps since 2024. Elliot Daly finished the turgid campaign as England’s starting full-back but, in a backline loaded with Northampton players, it would be a surprise if Furbank is not given the No 15 jersey when the new Nations Championship begins at Johannesburg’s fearsome Ellis Park against the Springboks on July 4.
‘I’d missed that environment, so I was pretty excited to be in England camp again,’ says Furbank. ‘Obviously I’m desperate to play for England but Steve had his reasons and I was accepting of those reasons. I was still pretty frustrated, particularly towards the end of the competition. It is what it is. Hopefully I can get my head down here, put a run together and be in a good spot for the summer.
‘Going away to South Africa, the world champions, and playing on their home patch is an incredibly exciting challenge. That’s a real test of where you’re at as a team. JJ van der Mescht (Northampton’s South African lock) told me he’d go light on me… so we’ll see if that happens!’
Furbank has not been consulted as part of the RFU review into England’s disappointing campaign. England lost a record-breaking four games from five, cranking up the pressure on Borthwick and his coaching team.
‘The boys were incredibly frustrated,’ says Furbank. ‘We’d won 11 in a row and we all went into that camp believing we’d be in a very good position to go and win the Six Nations if we performed.
‘Ultimately, we played against teams who performed better than us. Results matter big time but there was more frustration around the performances. If we perform like we did last autumn, then we would be in a good spot to go and win those games. We didn’t do that and that’s a big frustration.
‘If you look how we played in that France game, that’s a marker of where we want to be as a team, particularly in attack. It’s about freeing yourself up and dealing with that pressure when those big games count.’
Back at Northampton, the jersey does not weigh so heavily. The Saints, a point clear of Bath at the top as they go for a second title in three seasons, are not drowned in detail. England’s performance against France in a spirited 48-46 last-gasp defeat was more reflective of the displays at Franklin’s Gardens, where confidence oozes through the attacking play.
‘I’m desperate to play for England but Steve (Borthwick) had his reasons and I was accepting of those reasons. I was still pretty frustrated’
Battling with Elliot Daly, who ended the Six Nations in the No 15 shirt. It will be a surprise if Furbank is not restored at full-back for this summer
Eddie Hearn has promised to look at Henry Pollock’s contracts and turn him into a 21-year-old millionaire. Furbank’s own contractual situation remains unsolved
Henry Pollock is primed to start at openside flanker against Castres and the team is trying to extend an invite to the youngster’s new commercial manager, Matchroom’s boxing tycoon Eddie Hearn.
‘We’ll be trying to get him down to Franklin’s Gardens,’ said Furbank. ‘That would be quite cool. The only chat so far has been Eddie Hearn memes in the group chat about Pollock. It’s obviously class for Henry and class for rugby. The big thing it the marketing side of things. You don’t want to just go from nothing to be this big false spectacle. It’s got to grow and it’s got to build. We’ve got an incredible product and things are slowly moving in the right direction.
‘We need to celebrate the right bits of rugby. The big hits, the ridiculous tries. Eddie has spoken about promoting personalities and creating superstars that kids grow up wanting to be. I had that with Jonny Wilkinson growing up. Getting people like Eddie involved can only be a good thing.’
Hearn has promised to look at Pollock’s contracts and turn him into a 21-year-old millionaire. Furbank’s own contractual situation remains unsolved, with a proposed move to Harlequins for next season hitting delays.
‘Nothing’s finalised yet,’ he said. ‘It’s pretty clear chats have been going on between me and them. I’ve had plenty of chats with Saints as well but nothing’s finalised yet. Once it is finalised, it will all come out.’