If ‘Le Crunch' – the name often used to describe England's fierce rivalry with France – could be typified by a single current player, George Martin would be a strong contender. The Leicester Tigers lock has won 10 caps and is still in the relative infancy of his Test career, but his performances for England have belied his 22 years.
Influential in the line-out and with controlled aggression in the loose, Martin has made quite the impression on his team-mates. England captain Jamie George says Martin's no-nonsense approach has “led the way”.
“George came into the team having not played a huge amount of rugby over the last few weeks and belted people,” skipper George said after England's 23-22 victory over Ireland that has given them an outside chance of clinching the Six Nations title on Saturday.
“He led the way in that respect. He's a man of few words but when he goes out and performs like that, he's a real leader in this team.” Martin made his first start of the tournament against the defending champions after being unavailable for the opening wins over Italy and Wales with a knee injury.
England head coach Steve Borthwick will be leaning on Martin to lead the charge as his side attempt to secure a first win in France since 2016 – and a first title since 2020. Martin against the equally physical Emmanuel Meafou – the 6ft 8in, 22st 12lb behemoth who will win his second cap on Saturday – is a mouth-watering prospect in Lyon.
Now fully fit, the Englishman's reintegration back into the Test fold against Ireland mirrored his promotion to the starting XV for last year's World Cup semi-final against South Africa. In Paris, the 6ft 6in, 18st 8lb man-mountain defied physics to execute the perfect low tackle on Springbok Franco Mostert.
Facing Ireland last week, another colossal tackle on the stroke of half-time saw Martin fold opposite number Tadhg Beirne, forcing the Irishman to knock on. Ireland returned to the changing rooms with a slender advantage but Martin and England would come knocking again after the interval.
Along with team-mate Ollie Lawrence, Martin made the most tackles (14) of either side and only Maro Itoje made more dominant hits.
‘I was trying to put a brave face on'
Martin's impressive tackle technique was his point of difference as a 17-year-old studying at SMB College Group in Leicestershire.
“He used to get his hands on the ball and make decent yards, hitting line breaks and offloading as he would often be the biggest player in the pitch,” former Brooksby Campus head of sport, James Thorne, told BBC Sport.
“But something that was quite unique was his tackle height and getting low enough to chop opponents down. His tackle technique was spot on even back then.
“His line-out option was strong, although the 17-year-old props would struggle to lift an 18-stone player, as he was at the time.” Trying to discipline a boisterous and physically imposing teenager, however, was a much more arduous task Thorne recalls.
“When the time was right, he definitely got involved in a bit of banter. He wasn't squeaky clean but it was clear he had a bright future,” he added.
“In his first year at the college he was up to his tricks, having a laugh around campus. It's probably fair to say he took him some time to get up to speed.
“He used to get into some low level trouble in his first year and I remember once having some stern words with him about his behaviour. I was looking up at him towards the ceiling and he was staring down at me as I was trying to putting on a brave face.
“We had a number of meetings with him about his potential and how some of his low-level immaturities could cost him.
“But he turned the corner in his second year and really matured as it looked like he would earn a professional contract at Tigers.
“He started showing his leadership qualities around campus and took it on himself to lead the lads on and off the field. Some of the other players were turning up late to class and he would be setting the standards, calling them up on it.
“He wasn't one to shout and he was a steady influence. I never saw him lose it on the field and people followed him.” Four years on from his college days in Leicestershire, it will be England fans keeping a close watch on Martin's first engagement with his rival number in Saturday's latest instalment of Le Crunch.
— CutC by bbc.com
