- The full-back was helped off during Champions Cup victory over Bulls on Sat
- Furbank, 28, is now awaiting specialist advice on whether he requires surgery
- Just over six weeks until England face Ireland in Dublin in Six Nations opener
England are facing the spectre of back-line disruption at the start of the Six Nations after Northampton confirmed on Tuesday that their captain, George Furbank, has a broken arm.
The 28-year-old full-back was helped off during the first half of his club’s epic Champions Cup victory over the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
Having flown back to the UK and had a scan, Furbank is now awaiting specialist advice on whether or not he will require surgery.
Sam Vesty, Northampton’s head coach, said: ‘He has fractured his arm. It (recovery time) can vary so nothing concrete on how long that will take. We are not 100 per cent sure what the outcome of that medical assessment will be.’
With just over six weeks to go until England take on Ireland in Dublin at the start of the annual championship, there is a very significant prospect of Furbank being ruled out of that fixture and ‘Le Crunch’ against France at Twickenham seven days later.
It would be a significant blow to head coach Steve Borthwick’s plans, as Furbank has emerged as the first-choice No 15 this year, and a symbol of England’s tactical expansion.
Northampton confirmed that their captain and England star, George Furbank, has a broken arm
The 28-year-old full-back was helped off during the first half of his club’s epic Champions Cup victory over the Bulls in Pretoria
It would be a significant blow to head coach Steve Borthwick’s plans, as Furbank has emerged as the first-choice No 15 this year
Having earned a recall in the last Six Nations, he was a mainstay on the summer tour and played in three of the four Autumn Nations Series fixtures last month.
However, Furbank was replaced by Freddie Steward for the encounter with world champions South Africa and the soaring Tiger – such a renowned asset under the high ball – may have come into contention to start against the Irish.
In the event that Furbank is unavailable, Borthwick must consider whether he should revert to Steward as the last line of defence, or resurrect the left-field option of redeploying Marcus Smith there instead.
The latter scenario is less likely now that the Harlequins playmaker has become so entrenched at 10, to the extent that Fin Smith of Northampton was barely given a look-in during the November campaign, which in turns make it unlikely that he would be backed to start in Dublin.
Meanwhile, the Saints must resume their Premiership title defence without their skipper.
Vesty added: ‘It is a big loss. He is a fantastic rugby player. He is our club captain and has really grown into that leadership role.
‘His counter-attacking, his ability to make other people look very good and his calmness are all strong traits of George’s and have got him a long way.’
