Wales hope to find true North in Paris
WINGER TO BE YOUNGEST EVER TO WIN 50TH CAP
George North will make his 50th international appearance in record time against France in the Six Nations today, looking to continue his purple patch against Les Bleus.
At just 22 years old, North will become the youngest international player ever to reach the milestone — it will be his 47th cap for Wales, added to three for the British and Irish Lions.
The towering Northampton wing scored tries against France in each of the last two years and will be looking to continue that form as Wales seek a fourth straight win over Philippe SaintAndre’s side. North will make his comeback for Wales having sat out the 26-23 win in Scotland two weeks ago due to a pair of concussions suffered against England the week before.
“He is an exceptional player,” Wales assistant coach Rob Howley said. “George scored the last time we were out there in 2013 and last year in Cardiff when they messed up at the back in defence. So he has a pretty good try-scoring record, and hopefully it will continue on the weekend.
Phenomenal record
“It is a phenomenal record. If you think when we gave George his first cap back in 2010 against South Africa when he was just 18, and you look back at that performance at such a young age, he showed a maturity on the wing and the number of touches he had, scoring two great tries. That’s the question we want to keep asking of George.”
It will be almost like a home away from home match for Wales, with five of the starting line-up today playing their club rugby in France. Leigh Halfpenny is at European champions Toulon, Jonathan Davies plays for Clermont while Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips and Luke Charteris all ply their trade with Racing-Metro in Paris. Dan Lydiate, who will start at blindside flanker, also spent 18 months at Racing before returning home two months ago. “It is obviously a very useful tool to have when players are able to give you an insight,” Howley added.
France’s preparations have been disrupted by renewed claims about systematic doping in the sport in the 1980s.
Centre Remi Lamerat, who has been drafted into the midfield in place of the Mathieu Bastareaud, says they are used to the negative atmosphere. “Of course it affects us because we’d like everything to be great and perfect,” he said. “The criticisms about our style of play are quite fair, but we don’t come out too badly these days in comparison to the Irish and Welsh.