It’s time for me to put Wales first... I want 100 CAPS
GEORGE NORTH will return home at the end of this season in order to take advantage of the career peak ahead and enhance his quest to join the exclusive club of Test centurions.
Those were the reasons the giant wing chose to sign a National Dual Contract (NDC) with the Welsh Rugby Union and bring an end to his five- season stint with Northampton.
The 25-year-old’s most pressing objective for now is to complete his recovery from a knee injury — which should happen before Christmas. After that he will hold meetings with the four regions to work out which one he joins in the summer.
Missing the autumn international campaign has been frustrating, especially after his Lions tour was cut short by a hamstring problem, but North is upbeat as the comeback date draws nearer.
He said: ‘Some days you are banging your head against the wall, but it is progressing nicely now. I’m like a puppy, full of energy. In a few weeks I’ll be back in full training.’
North has opted to go west, back across the border, just as compatriot Dan Biggar makes the opposite journey to become a Saint.
The North news was greeted as a major coup in Wales last week and he said: ‘I just felt that the next part of my journey should be back in Wales. Working with the union on an NDC means I have more time in that environment and they can monitor my gametime and physical condition.
‘It also allows me to stop having the ups and downs of the World Rugby window, because there is a lot of stress that goes with that stuff ( disputes about being released for all Tests). My time at Northampton has improved me as a player, but in the peak years ahead I want to really concentrate on my end goal, which is to play for my country 100 times.
‘Once you get into that club you can put yourself down in the books as a decent player. That’s a big motivation for me, trying to reach that target of 100 caps. I just feel that the best way to do that and help me get there is to be in Wales. ‘ This summer, Warby (Sam Warburton — on an NDC deal with Cardiff Blues) had eight weeks off,’ he added. ‘I was back playing straight away. I’d already played one or two games before he even started his pre-season. ‘You think to yourself, looking ahead, that whole environment you have to work in is so important. It makes a big difference to your longevity.’ If he is well managed in the years ahead, North is still young enough to go far beyond a Test century.
He has already made 72 international appearances. At the same stage in their careers, the three most capped players of all time — Richie McCaw, Brian O’Driscoll and George Gregan — had 44, 55 and 40 caps respectively.
At only 25, it feels as if North has been around a long time and is a familiar, established figure at the top of his sport.
‘It’s a weird one — a positive and a negative,’ he said. ‘What do they say, “You’re part of the furniture?” Well, I don’t want to be part of the furniture, I want to be the big thing.
‘I’m excited to push on now. Yeah, I’ve done this, this and this so far, but there’s a lot more to come in the latter years — well, the middle and the end.
‘People have said to me, “You don’t really peak until you’re 27, 28”, so I’ve still got two or three years before I peak.’
When it was suggested that the iconic images of his career date back to the Lions tour of 2013 — when he scored a classic solo try in the Brisbane Test and carried Israel Folau on his shoulder — he said: ‘They’re not bad images to have but now is the sort of age where I have to re-focus, re- group and target these next few years to really develop my game.
‘I want to keep adding to those memories people have, when they say to me, “I remember when you did this”.’
The grand plans can take shape once his knee has healed.
North has recently alleviated the tedium of the rehab process by joining the annual Movember campaign.
‘Last year I did a Ron Burgundy moustache and this year I asked people on Instagram to vote on Ron Burgundy again, or Inspector Clouseau — 58 per cent chose Inspector Clouseau, hence this,’ he said, pointing to his upper lip (left).
The facial hair has served as a fun diversion in a good cause, but it will be gone tomorrow. Soon enough it will be back to serious business for this Welshman coming to the end of his exile.