Up front.

Lions hooker Jamie George was up for media duties yesterday and opened up about his excellent relationship with teammate Tadhg Furlong, as the pair look to team up once again this summer against the world champion Springboks.

The two front-rowers played key roles in the Test teams last time round in New Zealand and look primed to make a difference once again this time against a formidable South African pack.

George said Furlong is a “ridiculous personality” as we all know, but takes his job “very seriously” at the same time.

As soon as the England international arrived in Jersey for their training camp, having missed the first week while on Saracens duty, Furlong had a laptop in his face in order to get him up to speed and give his thoughts on the analysis he had already done.

“He’s a great personality, a ridiculous personality!” George said with a smile.

“He’s a great guy, a very funny guy but he takes his work very seriously. And that struck me straight away.

“Obviously I had a great relationship with him in 2017 and we’ve picked up where we left off. Pretty much as soon as I walked through the door in jersey I had a laptop in my face, looking at scrum set-ups and engages and that kind of stuff, and what he needs from me.

“And that’s perfect for me. It’s great to be able to have that relationship. The role of a hooker in a scrum is about trying to get the best out of the people on either side of you. 

“He’s a great character and probably one of the best tightheads in the world. I think we’re blessed in this team in particular, you look at [Andrew] Porter going out and you bring in someone the calibre of [Kyle] Sinckler.

“The scrum sessions so far have been pretty tasty, I have to say! Competition for places is great but Tadhg’s really putting his hand up, I thought he had a great game against Japan.”

And for all the talk on game plans and style of play for the Lions this summer, George agrees that at the end of the day, especially against the Springboks, it all starts in the front-row.

“I would always say that, yeah,” George said.

“But this time, in particular, any time we come up against South Africa, set-piece is gonna be huge and Tadhg is gonna play a huge part in that. But it’s not just him, whatever eight forwards that represent the team, it’s gonna be a big focus for us. 

“We as Lions need to pride ourselves on getting this team on the front foot.”