England will have to cope without George Furbank against New Zealand after late injury blow with Freddie Steward stepping up for series finale George Furbank has been ruled out of England's clash against New Zealand Freddie Steward will be given a chance to impress in Furbank's absence By Chris Foy Published: 07:35 EDT, 12 July 2024 | Updated: 07:35 EDT, 12 July 2024 e-mail View comments So much for best-laid plans. England’s bid to shock the All Blacks and become record-breakers at Eden Park – as the final act of a marathon season – will rely on their ability to cope with 11th-hour disruption. After an eve-of-match visit to the fortress of Kiwi rugby, it was revealed that George Furbank had been ruled out of the second Test with a back problem.
His place will be taken by Freddie Steward, the Leicester full-back who, not so long ago, was a fixture in the Red Rose XV, but who has been an unused reserve so far on this tour of Japan and New Zealand. The 23-year-old Tiger went into the Six Nations earlier this year as the familiar first-choice figure in the No 15 shirt, despite seeing Marcus Smith deployed there at times during the World Cup. Steward started as England narrowly beat Italy in Rome and Wales at Twickenham, before being usurped by Furbank, who earned a recall on the strength of his supreme form for Northampton.
Four months later, after the Saints had stormed to Premiership title glory, a confident Furbank once again brought his momentum from club rugby into th.