\u201c[The pain] wasn\u2019t too bad because it hadn\u2019t burst, it wasn\u2019t agony,\u201d says Furbank. \u201cWhat I told the boys was that it felt like I had really bad trapped wind. It felt like my stomach was cramping a bit so I was hoping I would get to the hospital and then just fart and leave. It wasn\u2019t agony but it was pretty uncomfortable. After the operation I had come to terms with it a little bit more but, before, it was tough to hear that I was going to miss out again.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, he had to remain in England\u2019s Johannesburg hotel after the squad had gone home, unable to fly so soon after an operation. Then, on the way home, he was struck down by a stomach bug which forced him back into hospital upon his return to the UK. \u201cOn the flight back I actually ended up getting diarrhoea and vomiting,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I was back in hospital when I got back to England because they were worried it was to do with the operation. Thankfully it wasn\u2019t. It would be nice to put a run of games together and not have something go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is an understatement. Furbank\u2019s last appearance for England came in November 2024 when he dazzled from full-back in a 59-14 victory over Japan<\/a>. He broke an arm the next month and a recurrence of the injury \u2013 along with calf, knee and concussion problems \u2013 all contributed to his absence from the international stage.<\/p>\n George Furbank, holding the trophy, signed off on his Northampton career with a Prem winners\u2019 medal. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n With a gameplan tailored around box-kicking and winning the ball back, Freddie Steward thrived at full-back during England\u2019s winning run from the summer of 2025 through to early 2026 but as their desperate Six Nations campaign demonstrated, the game has moved on. There is no better illustration of the need for players of Furbank\u2019s ilk than the ongoing Test series between South Africa and New Zealand<\/a>, who employ at least two playmakers in their back division. Furbank feels like the missing piece of the jigsaw for Steve Borthwick\u2019s side.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you are seeing a few more playmakers in there now, just with how good defences are, battering down a wall often doesn\u2019t work and you need a bit of creativity to break down defences,\u201d Furbank says. \u201cYou are seeing a few more of those playmakers, whether it be in the centres or the back three.\u201d<\/p>\n Marcus Smith, the man who replaced him in Johannesburg and his new Harlequins<\/a> teammate, certainly thinks so. With Smith at fly-half and Furbank at full-back, their budding partnership at the Stoop promises to be electrifying, under the guidance of attack coach Brad Cooper, who helped the Hurricanes to the Super Rugby title in the same role before his arrival.<\/p>\n \u201c[George\u2019s] vision that he has outside will massively help us get the attack firing,\u201d says Smith, who revealed Furbank picked his brains about a move to south-west London. \u201cI\u2019ve played a fair few games with him for England, 10 and 15, so I understand how he wants the ball, I understand where his strengths are and I hope that he does mine as well.<\/p>\n
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