George Furbank

George Arthur Furbank (born 17 October 1996) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a full-back for Premiership Rugby club Northampton Saints and England.^[1]

George Furbank

Full name	George Arthur Furbank
Date of birth	(1996-10-17) 17 October 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Huntingdon, England
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	92 kg (203 lb; 14 st 7 lb)
School	Kimbolton School Bedford School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Full-back, Fly-half Current team Northampton Saints Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2018– Northampton Saints 125 (251) Correct as of 27 October 2024 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2020– England 14 (15) Correct as of 25 November 2024

Early life

Born in Huntingdon, Furbank played his first rugby at Huntingdon RFC, where his family had been involved since the 1950s.^[2] From the age of four until sixteen he was educated at Kimbolton School, where rugby was not played. Furbank played other sports, including cricket where he was a talented batsman and was on the books at Leicestershire until under-16 level.^[2] He joined Bedford School for sixth form, captaining their rugby 1st XV before linking up with Saints' Senior Academy in 2015.^[3]

Club career

In 2016 Furbank played for Saints in the Singha Premiership Rugby Sevens Series campaign, and in 2017 he signed an extended contract with the Midlands side.^[4][5]

In November 2017 Furbank made his club debut and scored his first try for Northampton in an Anglo-Welsh Cup game against Exeter Chiefs.^[6] The following season he started in the 2018–19 Premiership Rugby Cup final as Northampton beat Saracens to lift the trophy.^[7]

Furbank scored two tries in a 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage game against RC Toulon and later in that campaign started in their semi-final elimination against Leinster.^[8][9] At the end of that season he started in the 2023–24 Premiership Rugby final as Northampton defeated Bath to become League champions.^[10]

International career

Furbank received his first call up by coach Eddie Jones to the senior England squad for the 2020 Six Nations Championship.^[11] On 2 February 2020 he made his Test debut starting in the opening round defeat against France.^[12] He retained his starting place for the last round as England beat Italy to win the tournament.^[13]

On 24 February 2024 Furbank started against Scotland during the 2024 Six Nations Championship and scored his first international try.^[14] He also started their next fixture against Ireland which saw him score another try.^[15]

International tries

As of 24 November 2024

Try	Opposing team	Venue	Competition	Date	Result
1	Scotland	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	2024 Six Nations	24 February 2024	21 -30[14]
2	Ireland	Twickenham Stadium, London		9 March 2024	23 - 22[15]
3	Japan	Twickenham Stadium, London	2024 Autumn Internationals	24 November 2024	59 -14[16]

Honours

England

• 1× Six Nations Championship: 2020^[13]

Northampton

• 1× Premiership Rugby: 2023–24^[10]
• 1× Premiership Rugby Cup: 2018–19^[7]

References

1. "George Furbank (Fullback)". Northampton Saints. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
2. Rowan, Kate (31 January 2020). "The making of George Furbank: 'From the beginning I could see George was highly skilled and a very good decision maker'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
3. "Saints Signing". Bedford School. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
4. "Saints announce Sevens squad for Friday night Franklin's Gardens action". Northampton Saints. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
5. "James Craig: Northampton Saints forward signs new deal along with academy players". BBC Sport. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
6. Treadwell, Matthew (27 December 2018). "James Fish and George Furbank commit to Northampton Saints". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
7. "Premiership Rugby Cup Final: Northampton beat Saracens with three first-half tries". BBC Sport. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
8. Rendell, Sarah (15 December 2023). "Northampton Saints 22-19 Toulon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
9. Bradley, Jonathan (4 May 2024). "Leinster beat Saints to make Euro final with Lowe treble". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
10. Hurcom, Sophie (8 June 2024). "Northampton hold off 14-man Bath in Premiership final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
11. Jones, Chris (20 January 2020). "Six Nations 2020: England call up eight uncapped players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
12. Jones, Chris (31 January 2020). "France v England: George Furbank starts Six Nations opener". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
13. Grey, Becky (31 October 2020). "Italy 5-34 England: Visitors' victory proves enough to win Six Nations title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
14. Moffat, Colin (24 February 2024). "Six Nations: Scotland 30-21 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
15. Mann, Mantej (9 March 2024). "England 23-22 Ireland: Marcus Smith's last-gasp drop-goal hands England thrilling win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
16. Telfer, Alastair (24 November 2024). "England hammer Japan to finish autumn on a high". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2025.

External links

• George Furbank at European Professional Club Rugby
• George Furbank at Premiership Rugby (archived)
• George Furbank at ESPNscrum
• George Furbank at ItsRugby.co.uk