Jamie George has won 17 England caps but has yet to start an international. The finisher may turn starter for the British & Irish Lions in New Zealand this summer with the hooker, for once, not understudying the captain.
George has had Dylan Hartley in his England way with leadership overcoming form, but the Lions, well stocked with captains, took the other route and the Saracen will be competing with Rory Best, the Ireland captain, and Wales’s Ken Owens for the starting position at hooker in the first Test.
“I guess it is a change not to be playing in the same position as the captain, but it will still be really tough competition,” says George. “Both Rory and Ken are fantastic players and that is what you want. If we can push each other along it will only be better for the team.”
George joined the Lions in Dublin last week, along with four fellow Saracens after the club’s Premiership semi-final defeat to Exeter at Sandy Park. While their clubmates marked the end of the season, the quintet were quickly back on the training field.
“We had to put the disappointment of the loss to Exeter behind us quickly and put our Lions’ caps on,” says George. “It was a good opportunity to move on, otherwise it would have been a long time to your next game if you were not involved in any of the summer tours.
“We had a tough four days training, but it is great to be involved and by the end of the week it looked as if we had been together for a while. It has been in the back of your mind since being selected so it has been nice to get up and running and get to know the boys a bit better. It was a really productive week and those of us who had just joined up had to get up to speed quickly.
“The coaches put us under pressure in training and it was tough conditioning-wise, but even though it is the end of the season, I have felt really good. A Lions tour gives you an increase in energy. Your body feeling a bit battered does not come into it as you are excited about the tour ahead. I have a week without doing too much before we go to New Zealand and that will be nice.”
A Lions tour is about giving every player in the squad the opportunity to lay a claim to a place in the side for the first Test. George has been used as a finisher by the England head coach, Eddie Jones, because of the energy and force he supplies when he comes off the bench at a time fatigue is starting to kick in, but he started the European Cup final and the Exeter play-off for Saracens this month.
“Everyone would prefer to start, but I am easy about finishing,” says the 26-year-old. “Whatever role I am given, I will do to the best of my ability. For England so far, that has been off the bench. Whether it is the same for the Lions I don’t know, but it is about taking whatever opportunities you get. You have to earn the right to wear the shirt. That is my ambition, but it means being in form.
“Working with Rory has been good. He is a top man I have a huge amount of respect for. He has been helping me out with the calls, having had one week in camp more than me, and we have been bouncing ideas off each other. I am really looking forward to working with him over the next seven weeks.”
George is the only player in the squad not to have started a Test, but his selection was not a shock. “Getting selected was a bit surreal, but it is about getting stuck in and I am really enjoying it,” he said. “It has been a good season for me so far, but I am not going to reflect on it before I am on a beach somewhere.”
