North mystery deepens as he misses Saints’ defeat to Sale
Alan Gaffney has suggested George North did not want to play for Northampton in their home defeat to Sale.
North, who is due to return to Wales at the end of the season on a dual contract with the WRU after four years at Franklin’s Gardens, was conspicuous by his absence and Gaffney, the club’s technical coaching consultant, said he was “disappointed” at the Welsh winger’s unavailability.
“It’s a pretty good question and it’s a very difficult one to answer at this moment. You’d probably have to ask George,” said Gaffney when asked about North’s absence. “We picked the side that actually wanted to be out on the pitch and the best side for Northampton. I haven’t spoken to George about it, but I’m just disappointed he wasn’t here.”
North’s agent has not yet responded to a request for comment.
North returned to action earlier this month after three months out with a knee injury and has been involved in Wales’s last two Six Nations matches.
Without North, Northampton leaked 31 points in a woeful first-half display. That featured a hat-trick from Denny Solomona who is in Eddie Jones’s 33-man squad for the clash with France. Solomona powered over from close range for his first and third tries after sustained pressure but his second was an absolute peach, created from nothing.
“Denny is fantastic. I knew when I first met him, and he made the right decision to come to rugby union, that he would score tries and he’s getting better every week,” said Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond.
In the day’s other game Billy Twelvetrees missed a late conversion as Newcastle won 21-20 at Gloucester.
Dean Richards’ upwardly-mobile side are now up to third after tries through Ally Hogg and Michael Young, although they were given an almighty scare when Gloucester mounted a late comeback. And the hosts had a chance to win it with two minutes remaining when Lewis Ludlow was driven over but Twelvetrees’ attempt drifted wide as Newcastle hung on.