Harlequins have confirmed the signing of England full-back George Furbank from Gallagher Prem rivals Northampton Saints.
Furbank, who had been club captain at Saints, has made the decision to take on a new challenge in southwest London after the best part of a decade in the first-team fold at Franklin’s Gardens.
The 29-year-old is a significant transfer coup for Harlequins and follows the appointment of Jason Gilmore as permanent head coach. The Australian has been overseeing the side this season after the departure of Danny Wilson.
Furbank will be expected to add leadership and creativity to a side that has struggled in the Prem this season, and exited the Investec Champions Cup to Sale at the round of 16 stage on Saturday.
“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Harlequins next season,” Furbank, who will ally with Marcus Smith in playmaking partnership, said. “The Stoop is a brilliant place to play – it always has a great atmosphere.
“Secondly, I think the group of lads here are an incredibly talented bunch, you look at the individuals and the collective - it’s a group you want to be a part of. And thirdly, speaking to Gilly (Jason Gilmore) we have a very similar philosophy and outlook on how we want to play rugby. There is a lot here that is exciting for me.
“I have been at Saints since I was 14-15 years old so it will be a different challenge, but I am keen to step out of my comfort zone. I am hoping playing with a new group and under new coaching staff is going to be refreshing and take my game to a new level.”
Furbank did not feature in the Six Nations despite earning inclusion in Steve Borthwick’s squad, with England thought to have been concerned over his Test match readiness after a couple of seasons blighted by injury.
He has been in good form of late, though, scoring a try as Northampton progressed past Castres to set up a Champions Cup quarter-final meeting with Bath on Friday night.
His departure comes after Saints moved to tie down other key figures including Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith and Alex Coles to new long-term deals.
The club are understood to be confident that they can replace Furbank at full-back, with George Hendy, Edoardo Todaro and youngster James Pater all highly rated. Centre Fraser Dingwall and No 8 Callum Chick have led the side in Furbank’s absence this season.
“We wanted to keep George, and he probably wanted to stay, but there are a lot of contexts around it that need to work for him and us. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that,” Phil Dowson, Saints’ director of rugby, said.
“There have been a lot of players who have been exceptional for the club: Dave Ribbans, Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Teimana Harrison, and George is one of those, both on and off the field. He’s a very good man, the players and coaches love him and he’s been a great captain, but it couldn’t work within the constraints of what we’re operating in. We couldn’t do it.
“If Saints suddenly had a multi-billion pound backer, that might change things, but they don’t, so we make decisions based on the financial position of the club. There will be points where players, coaches, DORs leave, and so it’s always in flux. It’s not always the right thing to keep a group entirely together.
“That’s what [Sir Alex] Ferguson did so well [at Manchester United], you keep some guys for a very long time and you let others go, and Furbs is one we’d like to have kept for a lot longer, but the context was that we couldn’t. It’s a moving jigsaw puzzle and changes quickly.”
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