The sun is setting on a balmy August evening at Kineton Sports & Social Club as George Hendy sips a questionable choice in lager and discusses his impressive summer sporting achievements.
‘We drink Carling here,’ says Hendy, the promising Northampton back and hero of their Premiership title win last season. ‘It’s the rules.’ OK then.
Thankfully, Hendy’s on-field prowess is better than his beverage selection at the bar. Not only is he one of English rugby’s brightest young talents, he is also a more-than-handy cricketer.
The 21-year-old has followed up his stunning substitute cameo at Twickenham with a series of impressive performances with the willow for Kineton Cricket Club in Warwickshire.
Playing in the Cotswolds League with the blessing of his employers, Hendy last month plundered 200 not out, with 20 fours and nine sixes.
George Hendy pictured playing for Northampton against Bath in June’s Premiership final
The second half of his double century came off only 38 balls. The bowlers of Norton Lindsey & Wolverton did not know what had hit them.
‘It was a pretty special day and one of those where everything went just right. The ball went a long way,’ Hendy says, a smile spreading across his face.
‘I’ll always be able to say I’ve scored a double century now, but for me, winning the Premiership was three years in the making and not just one day. I think I have to say that was the bigger achievement!
‘All the lads my age at Saints couldn’t care less about cricket. A few of them came to watch me play one weekend and I scored four! I told them that happens — and they told me I was s***!’
In an era where the pressures of professional sport can constrain characters and limit players expressing their personalities, Hendy (right) is a refreshing throwback.
‘My parents still live over there,’ he says, gesturing across the Kineton outfield. ‘The club is a second home to me. I know everyone here and it’s the same at Shipston, which was my rugby club growing up. I’ve played cricket at Kineton since I was about 11 and always played both sports.
‘I started playing men’s cricket at 14 when there was no-one else to play for the first team. They threw the kids in! It’s really refreshing for me to be able to come back here in the off season and play most weekends with my mates and have a laugh. We play cricket, catch up and have a few beers.
‘It’s important to realise how much your grassroots clubs have done for you. To me, it would be stupid to forget that.’
Three years ago, Hendy was still turning out for Shipston’s Under-18 rugby side. He had been released by the academy of the now defunct Worcester, but was snapped up by Northampton.
‘Shipston was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing rugby, just messing about with all my mates — a bit like I do now with the cricket,’ Hendy says.
Hendy is not just a successful rugby union player, he is also a very talented amateur cricketer
He is not the only good cricketer at Northampton. England full back George Furbank knows how to hold a bat and attack coach Sam Vesty is also a fine player.
Saints’ staff against players cricket match is known to be a spicy, competitive affair.
Hendy is now a regular at first-team level with Northampton. Their 2023-24 title-winning season was his breakthrough campaign, often coming on as a replacement at either wing or full back. Two tries in the Champions Cup last-16 win over Munster announced him to a wider audience. Then came his piece de resistance.
With Northampton struggling to put away 14-man Bath in the Premiership final, Hendy once again rose from the bench to have his say with seven minutes left on the clock.
His pace took him past England centre Ollie Lawrence and a series of other weary Bath tacklers to create a match-winning score for Alex Mitchell.
After that, all bets were off as Hendy and Northampton, who visit Bath in their opening game on September 20, partied long and hard.
Full back Hendy pictured scoring a try for Northampton in a Challenge Cup match in April
He adds: ‘I was in my kit for three days! I did some media straight after the full-time whistle and I remember being told I was player of the match. I couldn’t believe it.
‘I was only on the field for 35 minutes! My first thought was, “What am I doing here?”. By the time we got back to the changing rooms, I was still in my kit and we were told we had 10 minutes before the bus left. I decided not to have a shower and kept my kit on.
‘I remember waking up on the Sunday a bit hazy and putting my kit back on for the bus tour. It was the same on Sunday night and Monday, but then I had to take it off for a flight to Portugal on the Tuesday.
‘I did a podcast on the Monday with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode and they couldn’t believe I was still in my kit. They said I was a right mess!
‘I was told you never know how many league titles you might win, so you may as well go for it. Hopefully I lived up to it!
‘I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet how big winning the Premiership was because I’m still so new to the professional rugby environment. I haven’t really experienced any lows yet.
‘If you’d told me before last year I’d have had the season I did, I would have laughed at you and bitten your hand off. My goal this time last year was to be one of the best players at Bedford, where I’d been on loan, but the opportunities just kept on coming.’
Hendy’s next challenge is continued progression. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of the strong cohort from his club already playing for Steve Borthwick’s England.
His impressive cricket form — the runs have kept coming since the 200 — will have to be put to one side when Northampton begin their title defence next month. He has been promoted into Saints’ leadership group after standing out in pre-season.
‘If your goal isn’t to represent your country once you’ve got to Premiership level then you’re doing it wrong,’ says Hendy, who has already won England Under-20s honours.
‘It’s what everybody wants to do, as well as the Lions. But if I only end up playing in the Premiership for another couple of years, I know I’ll have given it absolutely everything.
‘If that does happen, at least I can go back to Shipston on Saturdays! When I come on with 20 minutes or so to go, I just try and bury myself.
I’ve always played that way because I’ve always had a point to prove. It’s tended to work out OK for me.
‘Before we played Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-finals, I was sick twice before the warm-up! I was sick again before another Premiership game after I was told England assistant Kevin Sinfield had been impressed by my performances.
‘That was another case of heading straight to the toilet again!
‘Since my first few games, I haven’t tended to get nervous. But when I was starting, particularly against Leinster, it was different. I was thinking, “This is basically the starting Ireland XV”.
‘Phil Dowson, our director of rugby, is pretty keen on doing different things to keep us fresh. On the first day of pre-season, we had a team meeting and we went to St James Church, which is just over the road from Franklin’s Gardens for a change of scene. Up at the altar, he’d put the Premiership trophy!’
