George McGuigan: “The main aim is to play regular Premiership rugby”

As a young star breaking through, the Newcastle Falcons forward is not settling for what he has already achieved as he is looks to make the most of every opportunity that arises.

“Involved.” It is the first word George McGuigan chooses when asked to describe how much he is enjoying life at Newcastle Falcons.

If I am honest, I was expecting the 22 year-old to say words like 'a dream come true' or 'thrilled', but for him to use the word ‘involved’ signifies ambition.

McGuigan seems to be thriving at Kingston Park since signing a professional contract four years ago and it could’ve been easy for someone of his age to have taken that opportunity for granted.  

But in his case, he is just hungry for more.

“I hope to be involved this weekend as I have been playing in Europe with the side and it’s been great”, he says. “For me, playing regular Premiership rugby is the next step and the main aim.

McGuigan, who grew up in Richmond, North Yorkshire, has always taken advantage of every opportunity that has been presented to him and strives to achieve more every single week.

He adds: “Playing in Europe recently has meant that I have got quite a lot of game time. It’s hard when you haven’t got the starting top to get minutes on the pitch.

“I have been getting 20 minutes here and there, but playing in Europe has given me a good chance to start and hopefully I have taken that chance. I hope I have shown everyone what I am about and hopefully I can keep hold of that starting top and take that into the Premiership.”

From an early age, McGuigan has always played the game and been successful along the way. He has been heavily involved in every team he has played for and that involvement was a constant factor throughout his journey from Richmond High School to Newcastle Falcons.

He adds: “In terms of school rugby, we were actually an alright team! We played in quite a few competitions and got to a few finals and I played with quite a few good players.”

“The good thing was a few of us did play for Darlington Rugby Club as well. We were a close knit bunch and that obviously helped us to win a few county cups and other competitions at Darlington as well.

“On top of that, about four or five of the lads from Darlington– including myself – then went on to join the Falcons academy which was great. A few of us have pretty much stayed together throughout which is cool.”

It was as a schoolboy at Gosforth under the AASE scheme that McGuigan first came into contact with professional rugby and since then, he has relished every opportunity to pull on that black jersey of the Falcons.

During that time, McGuigan was just a young boy who loved being involved with a Premiership club.

“The AASE scheme was a really good experience because it was great be involved around the club and it was great to get the chance to see what it was like to train professionally,” he says of his time in Gosforth, three miles from Kingston Park.

“I was doing rugby as a subject at school. It meant that I was doing rugby three maybe four times a day which is only going to improve your basic skills.

“At 18, I signed full time for Newcastle after playing for Ireland U18s and U20s. I then went straight into the Falcons and their ‘academy set-up.”

And that experience only added to the ambition which this young talent has.

On a personal level, McGuigan enjoyed a successful debut season for Newcastle in 2013/14 as he scored his first try and featured a lot for the first team.

That set him up perfectly to push on last season, but injury hampered that prospect. For any young sportsman/woman who has just started out in their career, it is tough to have a setback so early on but McGuigan made sure he went about his recovery in the right manner.

“My first season was my breakthrough year. I got young player of the year and I was really excitement for the next season ahead hoping that I could push for that starting top.

“I scored my first try for Newcastle that year against Gloucester and it was a great experience for me. My first ever try was up for try of the week! That was pretty good and it is still the best try I have scored for Newcastle.

“I continued to have the top and had it for the first game of 2014/15 season [against Leicester] and then I got injured. I was out for three months and I never really got back in the side after that which was quite hard.

“But, it was all about starting again, doing my rehab properly and hopefully pushing for that starting top from now on.”

McGuigan is certainly doing just that.

What is certain is that Dean Richards and the rest of the staff at Newcastle Falcons know they have an array accomplished young talent in their squad which certainly includes McGuigan. That was emphasised in their selection of youth for their European over the last couple of weeks.

And in terms of McGuigan, even before the hooker made his debut for Newcastle, he had already represented his country which highlights further the bright future he has ahead of him.

Currently, international ambitions aren’t at the front of this young athletes mind as he focuses on nailing down a starting spot for his club but what is clear, is his appetite to be involved in rugby, is greater than it has ever been before.