Who is George Martin, the latest call-up to England’s Six Nations squad who is tipped for greatness

It feels apt that George Martin has stepped out of England’s ‘Shadow Squad’ and into their 28-man Six Nations group as an injury replacement for Jack Willis, because his emergence in senior rugby is ongoing.

The 19-year-old only made his Premiership debut for Leicester Tigers last August against Bath at Welford Road, starting at blindside flanker in a strikingly inexperienced side selected by Steve Borthwick.

He had earned a sterling reputation at age-group level, captaining England Under-18, and duly demonstrated that he is a resilient, industrious prospect.

Leicester lost 38-16 to Bath, a scoreline that often threatened to become far worse, but Martin amassed 25 tackles and was Tigers’ most prominent carrier.

Just four days later, though, he fell victim to the Premiership’s jam-packed schedule. Arriving off the bench against London Irish, he suffered a medial knee ligament injury that required surgery.

It is testament to how much he has impressed Borthwick, who knows a thing or two about back-five forwards, that Martin was back starting in the Premiership on January 3.

At the weekend, amid another Tigers defeat at the Twickenham Stoop, he scored his first try in his seventh senior appearance after charging down Marcus Smith and latching onto Jaco Taute’s offload.

“You’ve got a guy there who can play six, he can play in the second row,” explained Borthwick Tuesday afternoon.

“He has a fantastic work-rate. We’re working to get him carrying the ball because I think he is going to be an excellent ball-carrier and you saw that on Saturday.”

England’s shadow squad was established as a Covid-19 measure, with the players involved on the same testing schedule as Jones’ front-liners in order to ease their potential promotions.

There were typically contentious calls from the off. Wasps fly-halves Jacob Umaga and Charlie Atkinson made that group ahead of Smith and Joe Simmonds, for instance. Ted Hill was nowhere to be seen.

Martin and Willis were original shadow men, but the latter moved up a category on the back of Sam Underhill’s withdrawal. Interestingly, Martin has now been whisked into the senior ranks despite Lewis Ludlam – tenacious, tried and tested over eight international appearances – being introduced as Willis’ replacement in the shadow squad.

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Following so far? Those who have watched Sam Simmonds and Alex Dombrandt regularly over recent seasons may be nonplussed by this stage.

Billy Vunipola was underwhelming against both Scotland and Italy, and there must be an argument that either of those two could have invigorated England’s back-row options.

Then again, Jones has examined both Sam Simmmonds and Dombrandt close quarters in the past. And we know how some of his selections defy conventional pecking orders because they are governed by four-year World Cup cycles.

Back in 2017, he brought a slew of rookies to Argentina with the aim of unearthing rough diamonds that would be ready to influence Test matches in 2019. A few fell by the wayside. Two of them excelled, developed and were eventually among his most valuable players in Japan. Those were Tom Curry and Underhill.

The elevation of Martin, a rangy and mobile lineout jumper, suggests that Jones will stick rather than twist with his locks and back row in Cardiff next weekend.

He seems happy choosing from Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, Charlie Ewels, Courtney Lawes, Curry, Billy Vunipola and Ben Earl.

Martin, unlikely to feature against Wales, will soak up the experience and have a chance to add enthusiasm and verve – maybe even bloodying a nose or two – in training.

His time may come further down the line if, like Curry and Underhill before him, he forces himself past the incumbents.

“I know first-hand that the England coaches study all the Premiership games very, very closely,” Borthwick insisted earlier this week.

“Eddie himself does that, and has a great grasp of all the players playing in the Premiership and available to England.”