Northampton Saints 50-5 Bulls
FRANKLIN’S GARDENS — England supporters wondering where George Furbank had disappeared to for most of the last 12 months were reminded of the full-back’s super-smooth qualities as he captained Northampton Saints to a 50-5 win over the Bulls in the Champions Cup.
And it is a skillset that could be used by both England in the Six Nations, and Saints’ domestic rivals Harlequins next season – if the strong rumours of a transfer for Furbank to the London club are true.
In 2024, Furbank was a shoo-in starter for England under Steve Borthwick. But this eight-try romp over the Bulls held less happy deja vu, as it was precisely a year to the day since Furbank broke his arm in a win away to the South Africans in the Champions Cup in Pretoria.
For the rest of the 2024-25 season Furbank made just two more appearances – against Castres here in the quarter-final of Europe, and Bordeaux Begles as Saints lost the final in Cardiff. The latter match in May was a nightmare, as Furbank was substituted due to a horror head knock after just two minutes, and the 29-year-old recently told the BBC he can barely remember watching the rest from pitchside.
@SaintsRugby get the scoring startedA fantastic moment as Ollie Sleightholme goes over for the try #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/jZ9DpgxKRD
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) December 14, 2025Furbank was then plagued by calf injuries, so you can imagine his relief to have returned with three runouts in the Prem Cup and Prem last month, followed by Saints’ victorious start to the Champions Cup away to Pau last week and here against the Bulls.
Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell are among Saints’ current England players to have extended their contracts beyond next summer, but with rising wage expectations butting up against the salary cap, and the chance of a bigger deal elsewhere, it is almost impossible to keep them all.
“We want to keep George but there’s always got to be contingencies,” said the Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson, as he named Lewis Ludlam, Alex Moon and Dave Ribbans as “guys who have come through the academy, and played for England, and gone off and played elsewhere.
“That is a potential risk with all the players in our group. We have got to give them the full sell and hope they make that decision [to stay].
“George is a class act, some of the stuff he did today was brilliant as always, and his leadership at half-time was integral as well. We’d love to keep George.”
Henry Pollock crashes over to secure the bonus point for @SaintsRugby The young England star looks like he enjoyed that one too #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/TbqO7e0rDf
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) December 14, 2025While Furbank was unavailable, England have used Leicester Tigers’ Freddie Steward and Harlequins’ Marcus Smith at full-back. Each has unique strengths, but Furbank offers speed off the mark and comfort in defending the backfield. He is a lovely, balanced runner who carries the ball to the line in two hands, or uses his sweet right boot to kick the lines.
He still wears protective strapping on his right arm, wherein lurks a metal plate, but his bravery is not in question. When the Bulls tested Furbank under high balls, he swaggered forward to make safe catches.
It was also Furbank’s counter-attack and pass to Mitchell that set up Saints’ first try for Ollie Sleightholme. And if he sometimes risks too much on a wide pass, Borthwick is evidently prepared to live with that, as Furbank is one of the 25 players with England’s enhanced Elite Player Squad contracts. It seems unlikely he would head abroad and blow the chance of playing in the 2027 World Cup.
But Dowson regards Furbank so fondly that even the idea of him taking his talent to another English club does not faze him.
“We respect the decision the players make, whether it is to France or Japan, and whether it’s an English club,” said Dowson, while admitting he did not know when Furbank’s decision would be known.
“Obviously it would be a bitter pill if in a semi-final [against Northampton], he drops a goal from halfway, and it’s George bloody Furbank.
“But at the same time, you know, good on him. If that eventuality happens, and he ends up at an English club, we’ll obviously support him and continue to track his career and keep in touch. I don’t think we can be bitter about that.”
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