GEORGE Furbank has the ability to ramp-up the pressure on Dan Biggar and provide Northampton with further fly-half options, says attack coach Sam Vesty.
After starting the year as England's fullback, injuries and loss of form interrupted Furbank's progress. However, playmaking has always been a strength and an encouraging display at No.10 against Leinster last weekend provided food for thought.
Could the switch become permanent?
“Why not?” Vesty tells The Rugby Paper. “We know he's got the skillset to play there. He's a very good 15 and that skillset matches up well at 10 and he brings a slightly different dynamic to the position than others. “Dan Biggar, below, has the jersey at the moment and we've got James Grayson, while Harry Mallinder can play in that space as well. But George has played a lot for us at 10, finishing a lot of games there, and there's been some good competition for a while now.
“He's a very accomplished 10, a really good threat with the ball and I thought he did very well at Leinster, so it will be interesting to see how he goes.”
Meanwhile, Vesty is utterly convinced Northampton are ready to consign a dismal 2020 to the dustbin and emerge as a renewed Premiership force.
Thirteen consecutive defeats in all competitions before this weekend smacks of a team in freefall. However, armed with solid boardroom backing, former Leicester, Bath and England centre Vesty is pinning his hopes on a New Year revival.
Vesty explained: “The year before we'd blooded quite a lot of younger guys who came through and did well on the back of a pretty well-oiled machine. Then last season, that meant there was a lot of pressure and expectation on that young group.
“They were challenged to maintain the success of reaching the play-offs and it was a lot of stress on people who hadn't necessarily spent long in their trade. “Whatever else this year has been, it's been a massive learning period for lots of people in the organisation and we will come out of this in a much stronger position.
“We're such a young group and when you lose your experienced guys, that really puts pressure on the younger ones. But we've worked on different aspects of our game and this season's been very different to the end of the last one in that we've played much better.
“Results haven't turned yet and it's not a nice place when you're losing week-onweek, but we will click sooner rather than later. “ I do look at performance and take a lot out of the things we are doing, which convinces me we're going the right way.”
While some Northamton fans have been calling for heads to roll, Vesty and his fellow coaches including director of rugby Chris Boyd were awarded contract extensions in August.
He added: “We've got a good, strong board and this club is built on solid foundations. As a coaching group, it's nice to know we have that backing and they can see the things we're improving on week-by-week.”
By NEALE HARVEY
