Northampton Saints boss provides George Furbank injury update and explains why Castres 'targeted' Henry Pollock

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Northampton Saints welcomed back one of their favourite sons this past weekend, as George Furbank made his triumphant return in green, black and gold for his first appearance since December. The England fullback suffered a broken arm in the Champions Cup pool stage win over Bulls last winter, with Furbank missing out on the entire 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations campaign as a result.

The 28-year-old made his comeback in the same competition, as Northampton battled Castres Olimpique in the Champions Cup quarter-final stage. Furbank began his late push for inclusion upon the British & Irish Lions tour with an immediate involvement off the bench, as Saints wing George Hendy was taken off after just three minutes against the French outfit.

Furbank would go on to have a barnstormer of a match against Castres, as he scored a try and earned two additional assists for a remarkable comeback. Furbank’s efforts were commended by a spot in RUCK’s Team of the Week, yet there was an asterisk around the way in which the fullback ended his day back in the cinch Stadium spotlight. The fullback was whipped off the pitch shortly after scoring, with some concern that he had re-injured his arm in the process of adding five points to the Saints score-board.

Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson provided an update on Furbank’s fitness, and also gave an insight into the status of George Hendy, after the wing was removed from Franklin’s Gardens.

“He’s (Furbank) good. I keep saying we have preseason for a reason, to build into games where he’s just been dropped straight in.” Dowson said after the match. “That’s tough to do. In an ideal world, he wouldn’t be on after three and a half minutes, which is a shame for George Hendy.

“But, Ferbs showed the class that he has and the quality to assess, the try, his ability to move the ball, all those elements of his game that you love him for. But again, he’s playing 60 minutes there, and we’ve just tried to make sure we look after him, because he gets sore. He’s blowing a bit, so we tried to manage him by off and on. So he lights up, and we’ll talk to physio and see how he is.”

“It’s hard to tell at this point in time. He’s (Furbank) got some ice on it (arm), and we’ll have a look at it and see how he feels. He’s had one full training week. He was ill last week, which is when we would have had some collision (training). He’s had one full training week and you turn up the temperature in a big game, in a quarter final against some big, big fellas. It’s going to take a bang at some point. So that’s the best thing for it to be honest, to see where he’s at, and hopefully he’ll be alright.”

It was a far from pretty match-up this past weekend, as the action between the East Midlanders and their French visitors was often halted as tempers flared over. At the heart of all the pushing and shoving was newly-minted England back row Henry Pollock, who goaded Castres with some unique try celebrations, and was not one to shy away from any of the brief scuffles that sprung up from a scrum or breakdown.

However, it was when Pollock was targeted that sparked the biggest brawl of the bunch. Castres wing Remy Baget laid a shoulder charge into an unawares Pollock, who was guarding up at an uncontested ruck. This caused Northampton’s titanic lock Temo Mayanavanua to get involved, with replacement Castres prop Lois Guerois-Galisson to join the now multi-man mosh pit.

All three men were then sent to the sin bin, with Dowson giving his verdict on how Pollock’s try celebrations did not help calm the heads of the frustrated Castres players. However, the former Saints lock viewed this as all part of the game, with his scrum half Alex Mitchell targeted to a similar extent.

“It’s great when he’s on your side. You kind of want that as well. You want that atmosphere, you want that character. You want people to be themselves, and he’s (Henry Pollock) that person to do that.”

“[Pollock was targeted] Maybe because of his try celebrations. I think Mitch (Alex Mitchell) gets targeted during the game as well, because he’s world class. So, if you want to slow us down, you’re going to go after Mitch. He is such a fulcrum of the speed of play. All good players get targeted at some point. So, I don’t think anything it is out the ordinary.”

With a Saints squad that is studded with England and Lions hopefuls, you would imagine that both Steve Borthwick and Andy Farrell had their eyes on the Champions Cup quarter-final clash. Northampton wing Tommy Freeman once again staked his name for a starting Lions jersey, with the flyer running out an attacking clinic against Olimpique.

“Freemo is in great form.” Dowson added. “He’s obviously established himself in that England group. He’s come back into the Saints with a tonne of confidence. I think we spoke about it, sat here last week about his Courtney Lawes like ability to continually evolve his game and push in different areas to get better.

“I think that can only be a positive thing. But you know, these two gentlemen here (Fraser Dingwall and Alex Mitchell) would sit in the same mindset in terms of trying to improve their game and looking for ways to get better.”

Whilst it is exciting for the Northampton stars to plan their own personal Lions and England ambitions for the Summer, there is a monumental task standing between them and any Test match tour. Northampton will take on Leinster in the semi-final of the Champions Cup, with the Saints set for a trip back to Dublin, to return to the same city that witnessed the end of last season’s run in Europe.

Northampton wrestled Leinster to a 20-17 defeat at Croke Park in the 2023/24 semi-finals, with Dowson’s men battle-tested for the replay some 12 months in the making. However, there is no underscoring how dominant Leinster have been this year, with their 52-0 Champions Cup quarter-final win over URC champions Glasgow Warriors, optimising how they are the side to beat this season.

“I watched the game last night (Leinster v Glasgow), and it’s incredibly impressive.” Dowson said. “Glasgow are a very good side, the URC champs, and they (Leinster) were ruthless. So, we’re going to sit down where we look at that over the next couple of weeks.

“But we’ve got Newcastle away, a short turnaround, and our league position is a frustration for us all at the moment. So, clearly world class talent in that Leinster group, clearly playing incredibly well. But, there’s challenges that we signed up for, that we want to the experience, that we want to enjoy.”

“The Croke Park experience was special, and we know that it’s going to be a big challenge, but it’s not something that we’re overly focused on as it stands.”

EDITORS PICKS:

• "George Furbank's return" – Northampton 51-16 Castres – Saints Player Ratings from Champions Cup quarter-final
• Son of England legend ditches dad's nation to play for Six Nations rivals
• England flanker Henry Pollock kicks off huge brawl, three players get yellow carded
• Owen Farrell 'Fortunate' to Escape Red as Lions Hopes Hang in the Balance
• Statement: Newcastle Falcons boss handed HUGE BAN for referee comments

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