England coach Steve Borthwick rules George Furbank out of summer and defends misconduct in South Africa defeat | Rugby Union News

George Furbank will miss the remainder of England’s summer fixtures after being withdrawn from the squad to face South Africa with appendicitis.

The defender, who was expected to make his first England appearance in nearly two years, was rushed to hospital on Friday evening and was dropped from the XV and replaced by Marcus Smith.

After the 45-21 win at Ellis Park, England coach Steve Borthwick confirmed that Furbank will miss the games against Fiji on July 11 and Argentina on July 18.

Borthwick said: “He went into hospital on Friday night with stomach pains, had an operation on his appendix on Saturday morning and is still recovering in hospital.

“I have spoken to him before, he is tired and will be missed for the next few weeks. He will be delayed in South Africa to come back later.”

The 29-year-old, who recently joined Harlequins, has dealt with a series of injuries, including to his calf, arm and knee, since his last England appearance in November 2024.

He gained recognition after helping Northampton Saints win the Premier Rugby title this summer.

Borthwick backs players after late yellow cards

Meanwhile, Borthwick defended Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper, both of whom were shown yellow cards late in Saturday’s defeat.

Freeman was sent to the sin bin for a challenge in the 71st minute and a minute later Pepper followed him into the stoppage with a late challenge.

That meant the visitors were forced to play the last seven minutes of their Nations Championship opener with just 13 men and they conceded tries from Malcolm Marx and BJ Dixon in the final minutes to end a difficult night in Johannesburg.

However, Borthwick refused to blame any player.

He said: “If you look at Tommy Freeman’s you see a little mistake in timing, there was nothing wrong or careless there. He was trying to fix the problem and apologized for his superiority.

“Guy Pepper from South Africa put the players under pressure because that is the way they play and they are very good.

“We want our execution and decision-making to be at the highest level and these young players will learn from this experience of playing with the best in the world.”

George: Discipline brought us down

England have now been shown 10 yellow cards and one red in six games in 2026.

The theme of misconduct was raised in their post-Six Nations review as a concern and Jamie George, who captains the side in place of the rested Maro Itoje, admitted that half of their game needs improvement.

He said: “There are clear things we need to make sure we do better and as players we have to take a lot of responsibility in relation to our behaviour, which has weakened us.

“Besides that, there were times when the Springboks put a lot of pressure on us.

“We’re going to be a much better team after this with a younger team that comes in here and understands how to put us under a lot of pressure and understand how to let that pressure get to us a little bit.

“This will be a good lesson for us, but we are tired because we believed we could come here and win.

“We’ll come together, stay strong and we’re all looking forward to getting to Liverpool and doing well against Fiji.”

England will look to bounce back when they face Fiji in Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday (kick-off 2.10pm).