The Northampton Saints fullback went “under the radar” when he was younger and even after being taken into a youth development squad as a teenager, he was still exploring other options.

The 28-year-old sportsman told Rugby World magazine: “Rugby was never something I thought I would be able to play professionally because there were always better players than me at my age.

“I went under the radar as a kid.

“I got into the Elite Player Development Group system at Northampton aged 14, 15, and wasn’t one of the better players there either.

“I still had other options, like going to Newcastle University to study Geography when I finished at Bedford School in sixth form. How life would have been different!

“I was never expecting to go pro even then.”

And even when he began turning out for the first team at Saints, George still “didn’t think” it would work out long term.

He continued: “Even after the first few years at Saints, I didn’t think this would be my career.

“In my first four years at the club fulltime, I’d only played one or two first-team games.

“I’d done two seasons on loan at Cambridge in National Two and National One before a stint at Nottingham in the Championship.

“I didn’t think that I’d get a proper opportunity in the first team, so I had planned to go off to Australia for the summer to play for Randwich. I got injured after one game and came back.

“That was when Chris Boyd joined the club in 2018… I got a chance, put a run together and that’s when I finally thought rugby could be something.”