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Saints sign 'unbelievably physical' 6ft 8in, 138kg lock from NFL IPPP
By Josh Raisey
Northampton Saints have announced the signing of former Coventry lock George Smith.
The 6ft 8in, 138kg second row left the Championship outfit earlier this year to join Louis Rees-Zammit and former Saint Harry Mallinder in the NFL's International Player Pathway programme.
However, while in the United States, he was approached by the Saints, and joined their squad in late April as they went on to win the Gallagher Premiership.
Smith has now committed to the English champions, and will help fill a sizeable hole in the pack at Franklin's Gardens left by Courtney Lawes, Alex Moon and Lewis Ludlam, who all left the club at the end of the season.
“I was out in America but it just wasn’t really for me,” said Smith when looking at his move to the NFL.
“I wanted to pursue rugby more than American Football. Shieldsy [Paul Shields, Head of Recruitment and Retention] rang me up asking if I wanted to come in, train with the boys and see if it was the right fit. It felt like home from day one.
“Everyone was really welcoming and Phil Dowson made it clear he wanted me to sign, so it was a good first few days. I don’t want to be playing anywhere else.”
“I took away a lot of things from the NFL experience. I am a much better athlete now than I was six, seven months ago. In terms of my athletic development, it was massive. It has only pushed me to become bigger, stronger and quicker.”
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson has been blown away by what he has seen so far from Smith, describing him as "unbelievably physical."
“George’s superpower is that he is 6ft 8in and he can move really quickly,” he said.
“The guy is unbelievably physical. When he first arrived, we tested him and his power-per-kilogram scores were incredible – the best we’ve seen in years.
“He is a bright lad and got stuck in from the word go. We’ve got someone who is physical, smart and can play the game.”
“George comes from a totally different background, there’s no academy history for him. He played well for Coventry in the Premiership Rugby Cup against Saracens and also scored against Gloucester.”
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Latest Comments
We beat Wales. Oh wow.
Go to commentsAs has been the way all year, and for all England's play I can remember. I missed a lot of the better years under Eddie though.
Lets have a look at the LQB for the last few games... 41% under 3 sec compared to 56% last week, 47% in the game you felt England best in against NZ, and 56 against Ireland.
That was my impression as well. Dunno if that is a lack of good counterattack ball from the D, forward dominance (Post Contact Meters stats reversed yesterday compared to that fast Ireland game), or some Borthwick scheme, but I think that has been highlighted as Englands best point of difference this year with their attack, more particularly how they target using it in certain areas. So depending on how you look at it, not necessarily the individual players.
You seem to be falling into the same trap as NZs supporters when it comes to Damien McKenzie. That play you highlight Slade in wasn't one of those LQB situations from memory, that was all on the brilliance of Smith. Sure, Slade did his job in that situation, but Smith far exceeded his (though I understand it was a move Sleightholme was calling for). But yeah, it's not always going to be on a platter from your 10 and NZ have been missing that Slade line, in your example, more often than not too. When you go back to Furbank and Feyi-Waboso returns you'll have that threat again. Just need to generate that ball, wait for some of these next Gen forwards to come through etc, the props and injured 6 coming back to the bench. I don't think you can put Earl back to 7, unless he spends the next two years speeding up (which might be good for him because he's getting beat by speed like he's not used to not having his own speed to react anymore).
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