George represented England at Under 18 and Under 19 levels before playing for the England Under 20s team that won the Six Nations Grand Slam. He also travelled to South Africa for the Junior World Cup earlier this year.

Announcing George's contract extension, Harlequins' Academy Manager Tony Diprose said, "George has made an excellent start to his professional rugby career with Harlequins Academy and I am delighted that he has committed until the end of the 2014-15 season at least. I have no doubt that he will continue his development into an outstanding lock forward and I fully expect him, along with our other young players, Charlie Matthews and Sam Twomey, to push our senior starting locks very hard in the next few seasons."

Commenting on his decision to extend his stay with the Premiership champions, George Merrick said, "I've progressed greatly as a player since I joined Harlequins Academy and given the quality of the coaching staff, I've no doubt I will develop further. The club has an environment that encourages young players to progress and I'm benefiting from that."