George Kruis

George Kruis

Full name	George Kruis
Date of birth	(1990-02-22) 22 February 1990
Place of birth	Guildford, Surrey, England
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	115 kg (18 st 2 lb)
School	St John's School, Leatherhead
University	University of Hertfordshire
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Lock, Flanker
Youth clubs
Dorking RFC
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2009–present	Saracens	52	0
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2010 2013	England U20 England Saxons	7 2	(0) (0)

George Kruis (born 22 February 1990) is a professional Rugby Union player for Saracens F.C. in the Aviva Premiership.^[1][2]

He was born in Guildford, Surrey and was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and was a member of Churchill House.^[3] He played all of his youth rugby for Dorking RFC.

His primary position is as a Second Row, but he is also able to play at Blindside flanker (No. 6) or at Number 8. He is almost always used as a jumper in the line-out due to his height and athleticism.

At 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) and 17 st 9 lb (112 kg) Kruis is a sizeable man but is remarkably athletic and agile which debatably sets him apart from others. His fitness and speed are incredibly impressive for his stature and position.

Kruis is eligible to play for Canada as his dad, Leo, is Canadian.

Rugby career

Youth Rugby

Kruis was a relatively late developer in both physique and rugby terms, not really coming into his own until his Sixth Form years at School. In the Spring of 2007 Kruis and his fellow Dorking RFC U17 teammates, including current Harlequins Number 8 Chris York, won the U17 National Cup beating Altrincham Kersal in the Final at Sixways Stadium, Worcester. He continued his rapid ascent and enjoyed an exceptional season for the St John's, Leatherhead 1st XV in the Autumn/Winter 2007, being selected to captain Surrey U18s. With some strong showings for the County he impressed enough to gain selection for London and South East U18s in the annual Divisional tournament at Broadstreet RFC.^[4] He started every game in the Second Row, Captaining and scoring three tries in the final fixture against South West U18s.^[5] He narrowly missed out on England U18s honours.

2008–09 Season

After completing his A Levels, gaining 3 A grades, he was offered a trial with Saracens in the summer of 2008. Having played in the A League fixtures, Kruis impressed and was kept on until the end of the 2008/09 season. He was also duel registered with Barking RFC during this season.^[6] Later in the season he agreed a 2-year professional contract covering the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons. He joined Saracens full-time from 1 July 2009.

2009–10 Season

2009/10 was Kruis's season where he really prospered under the trust shown in him by the Saracens staff. He made his debut in November 2009 in the LV= Cup against Northampton Saints^[7] and was the standout player for the Saracens Storm (A Team) being awarded the Saracens Storm Player of the Year.^[8] To cap this season off he made his debut for England U20 in the 2010 U20 RBS Six Nations coming off the bench against Italy and Ireland respectively.^[9] He was then selected in the England U20 World Championship squad that travelled to Argentina.^[10][11] He played in all five games, starting three (Ireland,^[12][13] France,^[14] South Africa) and coming on as a replacement in two (Argentina,^[15] Australia^[16]). England lost in the semi-finals to Australia and ended up coming 4th overall having lost to South Africa in the 3rd/4th playoff. Kruis was also duel registered with Barking RFC again.

2010–11 Season

The 2010/11 season was one where Kruis saw continued first team action, making his premiership debut against London Irish in the London Double Header.^[17] Kruis also made his Heiniken Cup debut playing in both the home and away fixtures against Racing Metro.^[18][19] This promising season was put on hold when Kruis fracture-dislocated his right wrist playing in a Saracens Storm match in early January. After surgery and a prolonged period of rehab he made a comeback in April playing for Bedford Blues in the culmination of the Championship season and the British and Irish Cup Final.^[20] Kruis also signed a new deal with Saracens.^[21]

2011–12 Season

After a strong pre-season and with the Rugby World Cup in progress, Kruis has now grown into a secure first team player at the North London club. He has already made 14 first team appearances in the 2011 season to date (January 2012)^[22][23][24] underlining his growing reputation within Saracens and England. Kruis started in the 'Big Game 4' against Harlequins at Twickenham. It was watched by 82,000 people, creating a new world record for the largest attended regular season rugby match in the world.^[25] Kruis gained his first ever Aviva Premiership Man of the Match award against London Wasps on 12 February 2012, having been chosen by ESPN commentator Ben Kay.^[26] Kruis then remarkably doubled this feat a week later when, against Leicester Tigers on 19 February 2012, he was awarded Man of the Match live on Sky Sports by commentator Stuart Barnes. Kruis finished off the season well for Saracens before playing in the Heiniken Cup Quarter Final and Aviva Premiership Semi Final losses to Clermont Auvergne and Leicester Tigers respectively.

2012–2013 Season

With Kruis having impressively stacked on some additional bulk over the pre-season programme many were tipping him for further recognition, this was until he suffered a small tear to his medial ligament playing in the JP Morgan Premiership 7s event at the Stoop. After 10 weeks out injured, he flew straight back into first team recognition. Playing at blindside flanker, Kruis was named Man of the Match against Munster in the Heiniken Cup by Sky Sports analyst Stuart Barnes. His impressive form was noticed by the England coaching set up and he was duly called up to the England Saxons squad in January as an injury replacement for Tom Palmer.^[27] Kruis was then subsequently picked to start, and make his Saxons debut, at blindside flanker against the Ireland Wolfhounds (Ireland A) in Galway on 25 January 2013.^[28] England Saxons won the match 10–14. He has since been picked again at blindside flanker for the Saxons against Scotland A at Kingston Park, Newcastle on 1 February 2013.^[29] Scotland A snatched the win 9–13 in an attritional contest.

References

External links

• http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/player/105489.html
• http://www.saracens.com/news/first-team-squad/view.php?Id=311