Anxious wait for North
WALES back George North faces an anxious wait to see if he will be fit for a third Lions tour after suffering a knee injury for Ospreys against Cardiff Blues.
North, 29, suffered the problem in the second half of their Rainbow Cup victory.
Lions coach Warren Gatland names his squad on May 6.
“It would be an enormous blow for him (if it was a lengthy lay-off), it would be devastating,” said Ospreys coach Toby Booth. “He’s back to the top of his game.”
THE Ospreys got their Rainbow Cup campaign off to a flying start with a comprehensive victory over Cardiff, but their win was overshadowed by a nasty looking injury to Wales star George North.
North, who was a revelation in Wales’ recent Six Nations title winning campaign playing outside centre, appeared to be in agony as he fell awkwardly onto his right knee.
He was helped off the pitch and Ospreys head coach Toby Booth admitted it didn’t look too good for the Wales centurion just a week away from the announcement of the British & Irish Lions squad to tour South Africa.
“You always worry when people get injured when no one is near them,” said Booth. “That doesn’t normally bode well for anybody so that makes it sound like it’s structural. The next 48 hours are crucial in relation to assessment and management.
“We’ve got a very good medical team with a lot of experience. We’ll know over the next few days when it settles and we get some images in to confirm what we are actually dealing with.”
Ifan Phillips opened the scoring for the Ospreys after eight minutes, with the hooker powering over from short-range courtesy of a well worked driving lineout with Keiran Williams crossing for their second.
Cardiff lock Ben Murphy charged down Matthew Aubrey’s box kick, but wing Jason Harries failed to take the ball and Mat Protheroe pounced before putting Williams over.
And the Ospreys took a commanding 19-0 lead into the interval when Morgan Morris reacted quickly to Ben Thomas’ charged down kick and drew his man to put Aubrey over.
The Ospreys secured their bonus point try after 48 minutes when Phillips smashed his way over the line from short-range for his second score, with the home side’s pack bullying their rivals. Cardiff Blues were also reduced to 14 men with tighthead prop Keiron Assiratti sent to the sin bin for illegally sacking a driving lineout.
It took Cardiff 63 minutes to score their first points of the game and it came courtesy of inside centre Llewellyn who hit a tremendous line to gallop in unopposed from 35 metres out, with Thomas adding the extras.
But the Ospreys hit straight back with a period of sustained pressure in the Cardiff 22. After going through the phases a terRYAN