George Frederick Martin (born 18 June 2001) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

club

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and the England national team.

Early life

Martin attended Rawlins Academy in

Quorn, Leicestershire Quorn () is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, near the university town of Loughborough. Its name was shortened from Quorndon in 1889, to avoid postal difficulties owing to its similarity to the name of another village, Qua ...

where he was selected for England's under-16 rugby union team. He then attended

Brooksby Melton College SMB College Group, formerly Brooksby Melton College and Stephenson College, is a further education college based in Leicestershire. The college has three campuses: Stephenson Campus is in Coalville, Melton Campus is in the heart of Melton Mowbr ...

where he was selected for England's under-18 side. He scored a try against France under-18 during their 2018 summer tour of South Africa and in April 2019 captained at the under-18 Six Nations Festival. Martin was part of Leicester Tigers two successive under 18 league titles.

Club career

In July 2019 Martin signed his first professional contract for

. On 21 September 2019 Martin made his first team debut for Leicester in a

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions. History The Premiership Rugby Cup was ...

fixture against

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

. On 7 July 2020 he signed a new contract with Leicester. Martin was named as BT Sport's man of the match for Leicester's win against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the 2020-21 European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-finals, and then again after the opening game of the 2021-22 Premiership Rugby season, a 34-19 victory over

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

. He ended the season playing in the final as a replacement and making the penultimate carry before

Freddie Burns Freddie Spencer Burns (born 13 May 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays fly-half for Super Rugby side . Burns played over 100 times for Gloucester between 2007–2014, and over 100 times for Leicester Tigers across tw ...

' 80th minute drop goal which won the match. On 28 September 2022 Martin extended his contract at Leicester.

International career

On 1 January 2021 Martin was selected for England under-20s squad for the 2021 U20 Six Nations, then on 22 January 2021 he was named in Eddie Jones' "Shadow squad" for the senior 2021 Six Nations Championship. He was named as a "finisher" for the England match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, but was not used. On 20 March 2021 he made his England debut against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, coming on as a replacement for

Billy Vunipola Billy Vunipola (born 3 November 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays at Number 8 for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership and for the England national team. Born in Australia to Tongan parents, he qualified for England throu ...

in the 64th minute in a 32-18 defeat. On 5 August 2023 Martin started his first international, a Rugby World Cup warm up match against at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. On 7 August 2023, Martin was named in England's squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

References

External links

* 2001 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Nottingham 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub