You might not instinctively expect George Martin to be the romantic sort – bulky 20th cop in the second row and all – but don’t judge a book by its cover.
The official world ranking list in the app 📱
You can now check the official international world rankings in the RugbyPass app!
After parting ways with his father-in-law-to-be the previous weekend, he got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend Natalie – a vet nurse – over the summer.
One of their favorite restaurants in Ibiza provided a heavenly backdrop.
“It was wonderful,” he said. “And she said ‘yes’ which was the most important thing. We haven’t set a date yet – we’ve just moved and we want to try to settle down first, but it will definitely be sometime in the next few years.”
Happy days. Their move – to Harpenden – followed Martin’s summer move Leicester that Saracens who was, in England terms, the biggest transfer in 2026.
It was a significant coup for Sarries to pry the 25-year-old away from the Tigers and pair him with Maro Itoje in a formidable engine room that England are likely to turn to this autumn with their captain available again after the summer break.
“It’s been great so far. I’ve really enjoyed it,” Martin said. “Obviously I knew some of the boys from England and I knew quite a few lads like Hugh Tizard and Alfie Barbeary from the playing grade so I didn’t feel like I was moving somewhere completely different in that sense.
“But the club has been super welcoming, the lads have been great and Natalie’s got the job done too, which is also really good.
“The first week was straight into the pre-season camp in Cornwall so that was good because they had a lot of squad building pieces and we went for a few beers which is always an easy way to break in and feel welcome.
To be honest, the set-up is very, very similar to Leicester in terms of the training ground. We share with the local rugby club, and I like that.
“Now we’re in it and we’ve played a few games and now I’m really getting to know the guys and the coaches. I’m looking forward to seeing where I can do it and where I can go with the team.”
After coming through the Tigers’ academy, Leicester was all Loughborough-born Martin had ever known. He’s still in touch with his Leicester contemporaries – he and Ollie Chessum shared quite the roast in London earlier this month – but now he’s a Saracen.
“It’s definitely different here, but it was class,” he said. “To be honest, the set-up is very, very similar to Leicester in terms of the training ground. We share with the local rugby club, and I like that. We come to train hard, and that’s it. It’s not flashy.”
“What’s different is we do more game scenarios – we have a lot of emphasis on that in our training with a lot of mini-games, but we still do great work on the fundamentals of the maul, scrum and defence.”
Overseeing things, of course, is Brendan Venter in his guise as the club’s head of culture and technical director.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing for him so far,” Martin said. “I didn’t know much about him coming in, but he was brilliant. I enjoyed getting to know him. I enjoy his character. I like how positive he is. He has a great outlook on life in general and how to be a better person, basically, but at the same time, he’s someone you wouldn’t want to let down. You wouldn’t want to not put the team first, for example.”
Venter’s long-term selection policy sparked much debate and was an eye-opener for Martin.
“It’s definitely interesting and different from the way I was used to doing it before,” he said. “It’s good to have that there so we know to be ready for the big game or to have a bit of a make-up week here to get ready to go again.
“But even though he gave everyone a block of games at the start of the season, obviously it was in an ideal world. Every game has an injury or an issue. The list he gave at the start, I don’t think it’s anywhere near what was seen at the weekend.”
Martin’s involvement, for example, was limited to 135 minutes in three games due to a few minor knocks and careful management by Saracens.
I’ve gotten my strength back, but I’m still in the muscle-less phase. So I wear a big pillow over my shoulder, just on the side and around the front, to give me a little extra padding.
He was out for 15 months due to nerve damage in the shoulder and it’s not in anyone’s interest to take any chances in that area.
“You’ve got to be a little more careful sometimes during the week because if you have a game on the weekend and you have some big tackles in it or big outs or you get hit in it, it just takes a little bit more time to recover,” he said.
“I’ve got my strength back, but I’m still in the phase where my muscles are disappearing. So I wear a big pad over my shoulders, just on the sides and around the front, to give me a little extra padding where that layer of muscle is growing.”
“Basically I’ve got to be very smart with my recovery and make sure the physios and everyone are on the same page – like they were at Leicester – so I’m ready to go next weekend.”
The extended period on the sidelines affected the way Martin thought about the game. In a good way. It was no longer a thing he did on the weekends because he always did, it was a thing he looked forward to doing on the weekends.
“The injury was tough but also great for me because it made me really appreciate and want to come back, want to play well and push myself. In the end I was actually grateful for that,” he said.
“Every game I played at the end of last season for Leicester – I think it was the last seven games – and then the three England games in the summer, I loved them. It was amazing.
“I would never take rugby for granted but now I go into games and think, ‘Wow, this is special’. I’ve worked hard to come back so now I have to go and show what I can do.”
He has one more match in the colors of Saracens – against Newcastle this weekend – earlier, touch wood, running to play at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham with England for the first time in 19 months.
If we get to the final it will put us in a really good place going into the game Six Nations and to the World Cup.
“That would be amazing,” he said. “The last time I played at Twickenham was when I did my shoulder, so I’m sure I’ll be full of emotions, but they’ll be good emotions. I’ll be fired up, ready to go if the time comes. It’ll be special to go out there again with my mates.”
This will be the first Nations Championship autumn with England hosting Australia, Japan and New Zealand and the final weekend comes at the end, also at the Allianz Stadium. The new tournament still has some kinks to work out – travel demands, particularly to England in the summer, have been wild – but it should fall into place there with the prospect of teams having something tangible at the end of November.
“I’m looking forward to it. I think it contributes 100 percent. That final game gives us something to strive for,” Martin said.
“If we get to the final it will put us in a really good place going into the Six Nations and the World Cup.”