BIG YEAR FOR GEORGE NORTH
Wales star on tying knot and World Cup challenge:
GEORGE NORTH is busy preparing for Wales’ sporting wedding of the year – he is tying the knot with Olympic medallist Becky James.
Cycling track sprinter James – a former world champion – retired having won the hearts of British sports fans after battling back from a major knee injury to pocket two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Games.
North, from Anglesey, now lives with his fiancée in the Vale of Glamorgan following his move to the Ospreys from Northampton Saints last summer.
They have built a coffee business, while specialist baker James has been busy making intricate cakes for customers.
North said: “I’m looking forward to the wedding. We have been together for almost eight years after meeting through a mutual friend.”
But they won’t have time for a lengthy honeymoon with North due to clock in with Wales on June 17 for the official start of his preparations for the World Cup in Japan.
“Becky is up to her eyeballs with baking cakes,” said North. “A couple of weeks ago she had seven to do in a week and is working really hard.
“We have got a few close mates’ weddings happening as well. It’s wedding season for rugby players in June!”
North went to the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix for his stag weekend with rugby pals Scott Williams, his best man, Sam Warburton, and two other friends.
Williams and North are huge motorsport fans so were in their element as Lewis Hamilton drove to victory.
“A good weekend was had by all. I think Scott organised it for himself more than me!” quipped North, who is an ambassador for Land Rover.
“I follow a lot of motorsport, but the Monaco Grand Prix was one I had never had the opportunity to go to purely because of play-offs and the rugby season dragging on.
“Formula One as a whole is a huge circus when it travels. What goes with it is brilliant and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We were on a yacht watching and it was amazing.”
It was the first race since the death of legendary driver Niki Lauda.
“Everyone had the horns going on the boats as a salute to Niki, which was really good and powerful. It was amazing to be there to witness that,” said North.
So does 83-times Wales capped North prefer motorcycling or cars?
“I am just an engine man, anything loud and snotty,” laughed the 27-year-old, a former Llangefni, Rhyl and Pwllheli player.
“I have sold my motorbike, but have borrowed one off Triumph, a little street twin which is wicked.
“It’s a good craic and I like it because when you have got your motorcycle or cycling helmet on you just blend in.
“It’s nice to be able to do different things because the rugby season is so intense. There’s no downtime so when I do get down-time, I try and do anything but rugby. I just fully switch off from it so when I go back to it it’s a pleasure.
“The off-season is nice because it’s the one time of year people aren’t expecting you to eat a salad and you can have a beer.
“You can chill out and be left alone. You are not in the public eye for a while, which is really good.
“If you are always thinking about rugby, when you go back to rugby, you lose the love of it.
“The off-season has been pretty good so far. I haven’t really done much as such, a bit of biking and a bit of motorbiking.”
“Being a sportsman is hard. People think it’s all glam and glory but it’s quite the opposite really.
“All I have ever known is sport. Professional sports-people are probably the most self-conscious you ever come across.
“They give the impression of confidence and some arrogance. But, when you break an athlete down, they’re probably very self-conscious, very self-critical.
“People like me are probably too self-critical to the point where it’s detrimental to my own game and development.”
Fellow Wales wing Tom James recently opened up about his 10-year battle with depression.
North said: “What he’s been through is not brilliant because he got to the point where he was struggling. But it’s good he’s been able to speak about it now and help others.
“As sport develops and there’s more pressure on individuals, the pressure pot that is professional sport is going to be highlighted more and more. Men and women are struggling with it.”
North’s partner James and fellow cyclist Dani Rowe – a gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympics and a Commonwealth medallist for Wales in Australia last year – turned to running after retiring, but both suffered stress fractures due to their competitiveness.
“With cycling you aren’t weightbearing,” said North. “But there was no ‘I’ll ease myself in with 1k, 2k with them’ – it was straight into 15k.
“The girls are berserk. They have got no gauge, they were just full-on.”
But as North pointed out: “Once you are a sports person you can’t go from 100% down to nothing.”
He has had his own struggles coping with concussions and other injuries, but is in a good place now.
“I had a few tough years but I have thoroughly enjoyed this year here in Wales,” he said.
“You can’t relax in professional sport, but I have been able to take a bit of pressure off myself and been able to enjoy what I do a bit more.
“For me, that was the beauty of coming back to Wales, of being taken care of and the bigger picture.
“There’s still a lot of stuff that needs to be tied up in the politics, but that’s out of my control.”
The Ospreys were on the brink of merging with the Scarlets during the Six Nations, but called it off and have made a host of high-profile signings.
And they were the only Welsh team to qualify for next season’s European Champions Cup – at the expense of neighbours Scarlets after beating them in a play-off earlier this month.
“It’s fantastic to finish like it did considering what we had been through this year – there’s been a few ups and downs along the way,” said North.
“But to finish as we did with a real strong performance against the Scarlets – you couldn’t write that any better with what could have been. To be playing off for higher European honours was incredible.”
North, a key figure in Wales reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011, has his sights set on this year’s tournament despite knowing the pain the squad will have to endure during the build-up, which includes gruelling training camps in Switzerland and Turkey.
“We are in a positive place. It’s been a good off-season. Knowing what’s to come is disgusting, but I’m actually quite excited about it,” he said.