‘My biggest pride is that George is such a lovely lad’
Tim Furbank was sitting at his desk yesterday morning when his phone started to ping incessantly. His son George had just been called up to make his England debut at Stade de France and friends and family were firing him messages pleading for tickets.
As it stands, more than 20 members of the Furbank clan will cross the Channel to see young George, 23, run out for England’s Six Nations opener – a motley crew comprising grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends from Huntingdon Rugby Club.
Some friends from the club had already booked their trips, confident that George’s talents at full-back – showcased spectacularly for Northampton this season – would prove impossible for Eddie Jones to resist. Not so the family, who were refusing to tempt fate.
“Were we expecting it? ‘No’, is the honest answer,” Tim tells The Daily Telegraph. “It came as a big surprise, even though some of the papers were talking about it. But you don’t believe something like that is going to happen until it does. To see him starting has blown my socks off. Just incredible pride.”
Tim has never been anxious about watching his son play. Until now. “Until these last 10 days, I was never nervous watching him. Even when he made his Premiership debut I was OK because he had been through the system at Saints,” he says. “I really enjoyed watching him come through the ranks because I have always loved watching rugby and I could then go and watch really good rugby with George playing. I know the England coaching team wouldn’t have put him in if he was not good enough but I am nervous – even if it is an amazing feeling!”
A self-described “very average journeyman back-row forward”, Tim started bringing his son down to Huntingdon RC when he was just six months old. The club became a second home for the Furbanks, with a young George being babysat by older children, many of whom sent their congratulations yesterday.
The family’s ties with the club go back to the 1950s with George’s great-uncle Dick.
Although George had a natural affinity with rugby, his father and mother, Becky, were keen he played a range of sports. A talented batsman who could also bowl a bit, he was on the books at Leicestershire until under-16 level. Then came the fork in the road, with George abandoning his bat as he progressed through the Northampton Saints academy.
Around this time, the decision was made that he should change school to further his sporting education. He moved from the independent Kimbolton School, where there was no rugby but where he honed his hand-eye co-ordination playing hockey and football, to Bedford School for sixth form. Northampton, who signed him up to their academy in 2015, had recommended he move to a school with a rugby programme.
It was the school’s current director of sport, Barry Burgess, who encouraged George at Bedford, as he also worked with the Saints’ academy. He is not surprised Jones has become a fan. “I could see George was highly skilled and a very good decision-maker. You could see a lot of the things he does for the Saints in the Premiership now back then,” he says.
It is a stellar sporting journey, and yet Tim and Becky’s greatest pride lies in George’s mentoring of aspiring schoolboy players as an ambassador for the Mintridge Foundation, which promotes school sport and positive mental health.
“Everyone is saying, ‘You must be so proud of your son getting a call up to England,’ but the biggest pride is he is such a lovely lad,” Tim says, his voice cracking. “George is a very kind person and quite humble.
“The thing that was lovely today
was the messages we got from his schoolteachers. He deserves it.”
Burgess – who will not be making the trip to France as he will be driving Bedford students to a sevens tournament – echoes that sentiment. “George was liked by all the other boys and staff, a lovely lad. He was a very humble boy and a lot of the lads in his year group would go to his games at Saints,” he says. “I am sure there will be some who booked flights when they heard he made the team. The boys liked him because he would genuinely help others to progress.”
George’s focus has never been in question – a family friend assured Tim his son would make it big when he was just 12 – although his propulsion into the elite has inevitably caused a wobble or two.
“It’s the only time I’ve seen George be fazed – when he got the call to go into the England squad,” Tim recalls. “We went to see him after the squad was announced and he was going, ‘Oh my goodness.’”
Mum and dad have done their best to leave their boy alone since he went into the England camp, although there is one member of the family keeping an eye on him.
“His sister [Alex, a keen netball player] is talking to him all the time, but all she is asking is, ‘What is Owen Farrell like?’” Tim says.
As an academy player, George was desperate to emulate Ben Foden, who was Saints’ star full-back at the time. Tim laughs when asked if his son would like to follow Foden on to
Celebrity X Factor, “Absolutely not, George really hates the limelight.” That may be so – but it has found him regardless. Tomorrow, a nation – and one very proud family – will find out whether he is ready for it.