"It's a massive privilege" – England fullback George Furbank ready to lead Northampton Saints as new club captain

09/05/2024 12:05 PM

England fullback George Furbank has been bestowed the Northampton Saints club captaincy, following the departure of former skipper Lewis Ludlam. Furbank was appointed to the role earlier this week, by his Northampton Director of Rugby Phil Dowson and the back-three flyer was overcome with the honour having been a lifelong Saints fan.

Furbank has captained Northampton on 12 previous occassions, having stepped up to lead the boys in green, black and gold throughout Ludlam’s injury absences last season. Furbank has a tremendous record whilst wearing the armband for the Saints, as he has not yet been beaten whilst leading the line at Franklin’s Gardens or even on away turf. Furbank spoke to the media at Twickenham yesterday, during Premiership Rugby’s 2024/25 season launch.

“It’s a massive privilege to be given that role. It’s not something I’d ever expected doing when I was growing up. I was a Saints fan growing up, and to be able to captain, to be able to captain my childhood club… I’m incredibly proud to be able to do that.

“I’ve got to experience a bit last year. I think I did 12 games last year, and whilst Luds (Lewis Ludlam) was injured. I don’t know whether it will feel any different being named as club captain or stepping into the role, but I loved doing it last year, and I’m sure that It’ll be the same responsibility as captain.”

Northampton Saints enter the 2024/25 season as the defending Premiership champions; a position that the East Midlanders have not been in for 10 years. Northampton commence their campaign the same way they finished their last, with a hotly anticipated Premiership Final rematch against the blue, black and whites of Bath Rugby.

However, before the Saints commence their 2024/25 Premiership campaign, they have to get through a series of pre-season warm-up matches against an assortment of opponents. Northampton kick-off their list of friendly fixtures with a home battle with Irish giants Leinster, before the Edgar Mobbs Memorial match against Championship club Bedford Blues goes down at the Gardens.

Whilst Furbank’s inclusion in either match is uncertain, the England star is excited to see his teammates run out in green, black and gold, with the anticipation of a return to match action getting a lift out of the entire Saints training squad.

“It’s obviously huge, has a massive bit of history behind it. Boys love those games. There’ll be a few lads from Saints probably playing back for Bedford. So that’ll be a good little, bit of fun. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be playing, but it’ll be, it’ll be good one to watch.”

“The first taste of matches, I think the boys who have been in for pre-season for a while, are pretty buzzing to get going in these pre-season games. Obviously it’s the first game we’ve got, is this week. So things start to change a little bit, just, just training wise, and it feels like you’re getting back into the swing of things with a build up to a game on the weekend again.

“So, the boys are pretty excited and ready to go, especially those who’ve had a long pre-season, and we have probably got a couple more weeks of training, of preseason before we get going (in the Premiership). Then I’m sure once it comes into match day again, that process of moving on and parking last year.”

Furbank surveyed the newly re-christened Allianz Stadium, which looked quite different to when he was last here for the Saints’ triumphant Premiership title triumph. The famous green seats of Twickenham were emptied out for the pitch side media day, and every Premiership club was represented as two of each team’s top stars took part in photo-shoots and interviews. However, one similarity was the presence of the Premiership Rugby trophy, which Furbank and his Saints have their sights set on retaining.

“It feels a bit different with no posts and no fans in here. I didn’t really have time to (let winning the Premiership) fully sink in any way after the final, to be honest, because we were back into the (England Summer tour) camp. We played on Saturday, back into the camp on Monday again. So, it’s not something I had loads of times to reflect on. I’m sure I will once, once I hang the boots up that’s hopefully in a while. But yes, it’s not something that’s probably going to fully sink into them.”

“This journey probably started when when Chris Boyd first came in and started blooding a lot of youngsters and a lot of lads who were around my age and came through the academy together. We had experience of winning the Premiership Cup, which was our first sort of taste of that.

“To go and achieve that last year was incredibly special. But, it’s a really weird one to explain about sinking in. It’s a continuous cycle, ultimately, and therefore I don’t think it fully happens until you retire, there’s always just a new focus. Our focus again, is getting in that top two of the Premiership, having a home semi final, and then going on and winning a final, and hopefully doing similar to what we did in Europe last season.”

The post “It’s a massive privilege” – England fullback George Furbank ready to lead Northampton Saints as new club captain appeared first on Ruck.