By Jon Geddes; Image – Clay Cross

A NUMBER of Australian Super Rugby teams are understood to be looking closely at Northern Suburbs’ Scottish representative prop George Thornton after just eight appearances in the Shute Shield.

And the 25-year-old frontrow recruit did his future job prospects no harm with an eye-catching performance for Norths in their 28-10 win over a gritty West Harbour at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.

He showed his arsenal includes an impressive running game when he took off like a powerhouse three-quarter, displaying a nice turn of pace and sharp footwork, as he made a number of incisive breaks to split open the Wests’ defence.

But the humble Thornton played down the possibility of stepping up to the next level in Australia.

“I’m just enjoying my footy especially after COVID to be honest, just playing for Norths and see what happens,“  he said. “I don’t want to look too far into the future.

“Everyone playing at this level – that is their aspiration – but I want to let my footy do the talking.”

When asked whether Thornton would be up to Super Rugby based on the Rugby News’ intel that he was on the radar, Norths coach Zac Beer replied: “I think if George got a look in he would, I think a lot of our guys would be.

“But I think they will all admit their focus is on Norths and delivering the best result and ultimately a premiership this year.”

Beer said while the Wests game was Thornton’s top attacking display since joining Norths, the best is yet to come.

“He would admit he hasn’t played a 10 out of 10 game for what he can do,” he said.

RUN PROP RUN

AND the Aussie game seems ideally suited to the athletic Thornton.

He has noticed that compared to the structured style he was used to back home, the game in Australia was more play what you see.

It is something Thornton has enjoyed and that showed with his attacking display against Wests.

“It’s a prop’s dream to get into a bit of space, isn’t it? It’s about the boys around me opening holes for me. The more I can do it the better,” he said.

“Back home it’s a bit more running into brick walls.”

The club now wants him Thornton to make Sydney his new home.

“George isn’t going anywhere,” Beer said. “He has fitted in like a glove and he just one of the Norths boys now.”

WELL-SCHOOLED

Thornton arrived at Norths this season bringing with him an already impressive CV.

He went through the Scottish Exiles, which is for players who qualify to play for Scotland but live in England.

“I was born and bred in England but was lucky enough to play Scotland 18s and then Scotland 20s,” Thornton said. “Off the back of that I got a contract with Wasps Academy and did two years there.”

He then signed with the Glasgow Warriors for two years but his time there was interrupted by COVID.

This opportunity in Sydney came up through Norths’ hooker Sam Kitchen, who knew Thornton when he had a stint with Edinburgh. Norths’ coach Beer was looking for a prop for their 2022 campaign and Kitchen suggested Thornton’s name.

It was a perfect match as playing in Australia was something Thornton always wanted to do.

“I’m super glad I came out, but I picked a  pretty crappy year with the weather, that’s not what I signed up for,” he laughed.

A WIN BUT …

IT was an important victory for Norths but after leading 21-3 at halftime their second half performance was disappointing.

“We could have gone on with it but we didn’t,” Beer said. “However credit to Wests. For the last however many years they have been good at dragging you into a contest that’s stop-start.

“I think that second half went for about an hour and was no real flow or tempo to it.”

But Beer was proud of his side’s defence. Tenacious halfback Nick Duffy and lock Declan Carroll were standouts in that area.

Wests may be on the bottom of the ladder, but their performance illustrated what a tight competition it is.