I’M A JOHNNY COME LATELY
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Our very own Rugby World Cup winner
GEORGE FURBANK has the debonair looks of a spitfire pilot from a bygone age and plays the game with an ease that suggests he’s done it all before.
He is also new to international rugby and will tomorrow be thrown into the cauldron of a France vs England Six Nations clash.
But why am I so encouraged by his selection in a week when all the talk from Eddie Jones has been of England playing with brutality to beat up the French kids?
Because England’s best performances haven’t come when they’ve been one-dimensional. Brutality is what South Africa did to THEM in the World Cup final.
Jones’ men are at their devastating best when they play in a number of different ways, as they did against New Zealand the week before in the semi-final. When they combine aggression in defence with ambition in attack.
Which brings me to Furbank (above), who is sneaky quick with classic footwork, creative in attack, generous to his wingers, brave in the air, and dependable as the last line of defence.
He is a cross between Matt Perry and Iain Balshaw, a modern-day Jean-Baptiste Lafond. Great temperament meets X factor.
Having him in the back line suggests all the talk of brutality is being overdone. Which is just as well as there’s far more to rugby than trying to find cracks you assume are there due to inexperience. Yes, France are callow in certain positions, but their players ooze quality, and you just know there will be a bounce from the coaching appointment of Shaun Edwards. For England, this is a major mental test. In their last two games they have gone from all-time great performances to being battered in a final. There will be some emotional damage there.
Add in the mental turmoil senior players Maro Itoje (left), Jamie George (inset), Elliot Daly and captain Owen Farrell must be going through due to the Saracens salary cap scandal and they have as many questions to answer as France.
It makes for a fascinating start to the tournament. I take England to win, providing they have more than a sledgehammer in their tool box.
vKO 2.15pm
AGE is just a number to Six Nations debutant Johnny McNicholl – it’s tries that really count to the Wales new boy.
The Scarlets’ Kiwi convert may be 30 this year but he has still been able to keep Gloucester wonder-kid Louis Rees-Zammit on the sidelines for today’s opener with Italy.
Rees-Zammit (right) turns 19 tomorrow, while McNicholl (top) will be 33 by the time the next World Cup comes along. But new head coach Wayne Pivac is happy to put his faith in a player who has averaged a try every other game for the Scarlets since joining in 2016.
“Age is just a number, it’s about how you feel,” said McNicholl.
“I’m still like a spring chicken. When the day comes that I feel too tired to get out of bed and train, I’ll know not to make myself available. But you’ll have to ask me that question again when I’m 33.”