Saints were keen to give Furbank a run at fly-half while Biggar was with Wales

Chris Boyd says Saints were keen to give George Furbank a run at 10, with Dan Biggar not available.
George FurbankGeorge Furbank
George Furbank

Furbank started at fly-half in last Friday's 35-20 defeat to Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

The 25-year-old was released by England on the Wednesday evening and chosen ahead of James Grayson.

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And Furbank delivered a largely decent display, making a try-saving tackle on Freddie Burns and also going so close to scoring as he was denied by Chris Ashton in the corner.

"He (Furbank) didn't come back until late so didn't train at all with the team but we were keen to give George a run and I thought he did a pretty good job," Boyd said.

When asked about the fly-half selection situation for the clash with Sale Sharks next Saturday, Boyd said: "We've got a fallow week in the Six Nations coming up so potentially Dan Biggar may be available for next week so we'll see what we do at 10."

Grayson was the only replacement not to get on against Tigers as Saints opted to avoid switching Furbank to full-back when replacing Ahsee Tuala, who had a tough first 40 minutes, at half-time.

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Matt Proctor was the man brought on for Tuala, with Furbank staying at 10 and Rory Hutchinson switching from centre to full-back.

"We were keen to get Matt Proctor into the game and see if he could stiffen it up a bit," said Boyd, who confirmed that Tom Wood had to come off at half-time with a shoulder injury.

Saints are now preparing to host an in-form Sale Sharks side at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens next weekend.

It is another key fixture against a Gallagher Premiership play-off contender.

And Boyd said: "They just keep rolling in.

"Sale are a tough opponent, they've had good wins against top sides like Harlequins and Leicester, so they're going to be a handful.

"It's a tough assignment."