England full-back George Furbank has described his first two Guinness Six Nations appearances as a ‘baptism of fire’ – but he is relishing the chance to play at Twickenham this weekend.
The 23-year-old Northampton Saints man made his international debut for the Red Rose in Paris after Anthony Watson was ruled out of the Championship opener with injury.
Eddie Jones’ men ultimately lost their curtain-raiser 24-17 to France before Furbank retained the No.15 jersey as England bounced back in the second round with victory in Scotland.
And while Furbank acknowledged that he has already experienced a myriad of emotions during his first two caps, he insists he has enjoyed testing himself on the biggest stage.
“It’s been a baptism of fire. Surreal, exciting, kind of every emotion under the sun,” he told BBC Sport. “I try my best to stay away from all the papers and stuff.
“I think if you let that get to you then you’re never going to be able to perform to your best.
“If you go searching for stuff, you’re never going to find anything good.”
England edged out Scotland 13-6 at BT Murrayfield to regain the Calcutta Cup in their last outing and Furbank said the atmosphere before the game fired him up.
“Getting off the bus and having loads of people chanting ‘Scotland’ and booing us, it was daunting, but it was also really exciting, it kind of gets me going a bit,” he said.
After two games on the road, England will have home comforts this weekend when they welcome unbeaten Ireland to Twickenham for a blockbuster Round 3 clash.
And having only previously watched club team-mate Lewis Ludlam make his debut at England HQ, Furbank said it would be special experience if he gets the chance to play on Sunday.
“That was nice and a special moment [watching Ludlam at Twickenham], so now if we both get picked that would be really nice to be able to play alongside him,” he said.
“It would be a dream come true to play at Twickenham and to sing the national anthem there would be pretty cool.”
