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Northampton given hope of a George Furbank return for Bulls clash
By PA
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson refused to rule out George Furbank being available for his side’s Investec Champions Cup quarter-final showdown.
The Saints will host South African side the Bulls at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday night after they overcame Munster last weekend.
Full-back Furbank, who has been one of Northampton’s star attacking weapons this season, missed the 24-14 victory with a calf injury.
But Dowson revealed the 27-year-old, also impressive for England in their recent Six Nations campaign, could be in contention to play this weekend.
Asked if Furbank is out of Saturday’s fixture, Dowson replied: “He has trained a bit more so we will just wait and see.
“Any of these soft-tissue things we are very nervy around because you give them a go and then you wait to see what the reaction is.
“He has done a few bits today so we will manage him coming back in really, in terms of when he gets into contact, and when he gets offline.”
Northampton’s last-eight opponents face an arduous journey to England with the squad travelling on eight different airlines.
The quarter-final ties were only confirmed after the round-of-16 matches on Sunday, adding to the logistical headache.
Frustrated Bulls boss Jake White said before his team’s departure: “It’s not ideal. The reality is that we’re talking about a high-performance sport and being competitive.
“There aren’t a lot of teams that leave on eight different airlines on a Tuesday evening to play a Saturday night game.
“It isn’t what was expected. We were sold that it’s an overnight flight to Europe to go play there in the beginning. Instead, it recently took 28 hours and 27 hours to and back from Leinster and whether we like it or not, it comes at a cost.
“No sporting team today as I speak flies out with eight different aeroplanes, some to Birmingham, some to London. Some land at nine. Some land at two. You’re talking about a competition where you want to be the best in the world. It doesn’t add up.”
And Dowson admitted he feels sympathy for White ahead of the short-notice trip to England.
“You don’t book a holiday the week before, so it is incredibly tough for him,” added Dowson.
“All you are trying to do as a coaching group is to give that playing group the best opportunity to go and perform and that (the travel) makes it tricky, so, yes, I feel for Jake and the rest of that crew trying to put all that logistics together.”
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Latest Comments
This France team is as good as they were when they went into the World Cup as favorites. Have gone through a rebuild of confidence and rediscovered that form.
Neither England nor Ireland will trouble this team in the 6N. That’s my prediction.
And I guess about time too. Considering that France has won but one 6N title in 6 seasons despite being the best French team for generations thriving off the platform which is the Top 14.
They must just beware of peaking too soon and going to Australia over confident.
Which is also why I thinks it’s absolutely bonkers that France isn’t sending there best players to New Zealand next year. Yes, it isn’t Australia, but getting some SH travel experience makes more sense than not.
Go to commentsI'm not meaning to criticise the players, it's a professional game, this is their livelihood so all power to them. I am aiming criticism at the selectors. Italy is the perfect opportunity to give players of the future a game such as Lakai, Love etc. There is a finite number of tests until the next world cup to develop the team, we are wasting one today.
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