George Furbank will miss the remainder of England’s international summer after being left out of the squad against South Africa due to appendicitis.
The full-back, who was due to feature for England for the first time in almost two years, was taken to hospital on Friday evening and replaced in the starting 15 by Marcus Smith.
Following the 45-21 defeat at Ellis Park, England manager Steve Borthwick confirmed that Furbank would also miss the games against Fiji on July 11 and Argentina on July 18.
Mr Borthwick said: “He was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain on Friday evening and had an appendectomy on Saturday morning and is still recovering.
“I spoke to him earlier and he is upset and will miss the next few weeks. He is scheduled to fly to South Africa later.”
The 29-year-old, who recently joined Harlequins, has battled a string of injuries, including to his calf, arm and knee, since his last appearance away to England in November 2024.
He received a recall after helping Northampton Saints win the Prem Rugby title this summer.
Borthwick supports his players after a late yellow card.
Marcus Smith was drafted in for the loss to South Africa.
Meanwhile, Borthwick defended Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper, who received late yellow cards in Saturday’s loss.
Freeman was sent into the sin bin for a dangerous tackle in the 71st minute, and a minute later Pepper followed him into the stands for a late challenge.
It meant the tourists had to play the final seven minutes of their Nations Championship opener with just 13 men, leaking last-minute tries to Malcolm Marx and BJ Dixon to cap a terrible evening in Johannesburg.
However, Borthwick denied accusing either player.
He said: “If you look at Tommy Freeman you see a bit of a timing error. There was nothing malicious or reckless there. He was trying to make a tackle and apologized for the height of the tackle.”
“South Africa’s Guy Pepper puts pressure on the players because that’s how they play and they’re very good.
“We want our execution and decision-making to be at a very high level and these young players will learn from the experience of playing against the best in the world.”
George: Discipline fails us
Jamie George has admitted that poor discipline was a factor in England’s defeat.
England have now received 10 yellow cards and one red card in six games in 2026.
The topic of poor discipline was raised as a concern at the post-Six Nations review, with Jamie George, who captained the team in place of the rested Maro Itoje, admitting some parts of the game needed to be better.
He said: “There are some obvious things we need to do to get better and as players we need to take on a lot more responsibility in terms of discipline and this has let us down.”
“Besides that, there were periods where we put a lot of pressure on the Springboks. If you talk to their players, they know they were in a Test match.
“We’re going to be a much better team with this experience as a young team coming here and understanding how we put a lot of pressure on them and how to put some of that pressure on us.
“This will be a great learning experience for us, but we are upset because we came here and truly believed we could win.
“We will continue to rally and stay on our toes. We are all looking forward to arriving in Liverpool and putting on a great performance against Fiji.”
England will now look to bounce back against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday (2.10pm kick-off).
