'Pretty surreal' - Furbank so happy to be selected as new Saints skipper

The 27-year-old takes over from Lewis Ludlam, who left Saints to join Toulon this summer.

Furbank led Saints on multiple occasions during last season's Gallagher Premiership title-winning campaign.

And the full-back's overall record as Saints skipper is immaculate; the England international has captained Northampton to 12 wins from 12 matches so far.

Last term, he made 22 appearances for Saints, scoring seven tries and adding a further 39 points to his tally from the kicking tee.

Having risen all the way through the club's development pathway, signing his first professional contract in 2016, Furbank becomes the third successive Saints Academy graduate to lead the club.

And he said: “It’s pretty surreal to be honest. It’s not something I ever thought I’d get the opportunity to do.

“There were a few boys in contention to be captain this season, but when Dows (Saints boss Phil Dowson) told me I was buzzing, and so excited to tell my family as I knew how proud they were going to be.

“I obviously had a bit of a taste of it last year, when Luds was injured, and that gave me a sense of what it’s going to be like.

“Last season I had Courtney (Lawes), Luds and Sue (Alex Waller) – who was club captain when I first broke into the first team – to lean on. They were all incredible leaders in their own way, and I learned a lot from them.

“But I’m lucky that I can depend on plenty of guys in this squad too; the likes of Fin Smith, Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, Sam Graham and so on – we’ve got a lot of leaders now in this group. We’re all a similar age and have similar experience, so I’ll lean on them as well when I need to.

“But to be named club captain is a massive privilege and an honour. I’m excited for the new season and ready to crack on again.”