North selection for Paris match is right direction for Wales
“IT can be the most brilliant thing in the world and the most difficult thing in the world to be a Welsh rugby player.”
So reckoned Gareth Thomas after Wales had bombed out of the 2007 World Cup at the pool stage after defeat to Fiji.
It’s not hard to see where the former Wales captain was coming from – a brilliant thing to be a Welsh rugby player in terms of the honour of representing a small country that takes immense pride in its sporting achievements, difficult in terms of the blizzard of flak that can fly after a poor display or a perceived loss of form.
Maybe George North will understand the comment better than most as he heads into the autumn round of internationals.
North will make his 99th Test appearance this weekend when Lions caps are added to his Wales outings. It’s not an inconsiderable amount of experience he offers, gained over the course of almost 10 years in the Test arena.
And it’s worth reminding ourselves that Test rugby is an environment where experience counts. North knows what success looks like at the highest level and he knows what it takes to achieve it, but he also understands how failure feels.
He appreciates what the fallout will be and how a player needs to armourplate himself from criticism that is now even more frequent in a social media age where everyone has a loud-hailer.
It’s just as well he does know all that because his selection for the game with France hasn’t been greeted by universal applause.
On Twitter, one contributor expressed incredulity at Wayne Pivac’s decision to choose the joint-second most prolific try scorer in Wales’ history, saying: “Cannot believe the North selection – surely its (sic) his final chance.”
Someone else, presumably taking into account that the wing had been restricted to just 14 minutes of rugby in seven months after an early-season red card for the Ospreys, said: “North shouldn’t be anywhere near that squad let alone start. Feel for all the other players in form (sic) and missing out.”
There were plenty more opinions along the same lines, with a significant number wondering why
North had been picked ahead of 19-year-old Louis Rees-zammit, who features on the bench.
Others did back Pivac’s call, but the criticism came across as heavy duty: there are clearly a lot angry people out there who feel North is taking the place of the youngster.
What to make of it all? Perhaps the first thing to say is that it’s hardly a new phenomenon for a rugby player to be criticised.
Just over three decades ago, Robert Jones returned from the first World Cup as European player of the tournament, only to find appreciation of his qualities didn’t extend to all parts of the rugby empire.
Pivac has stuck with North because he sees the scorer of 42 Test tries as a key player. The sharpness question is entirely valid to consider after much time out, but maybe it isn’t such a challenge for a back to be thrown straight into
the fray after an injury.
Certainly, North looked to be raring to go when he returned for the Ospreys in August, barging his way over for a try before the misjudgement that saw him take out an airborne Ashton Hewitt and pick up a red card.
Rees-zammit’s time will come, but at 28 North still has a huge amount to offer. Now isn’t the time to be thinking of relegating him to fringe-player status
He will know that noone’s place is guaranteed and if he’s not performing someone else will be offered the chance to show he can do better.
But the last time North played for Wales he was actually one of their best players, working that hard it seemed Pivac might have introduced some kind of productivity arrangement.
There was one moment in that encounter with England at Twickenham last March which typified his effort.
Seventy minutes had gone and Wales were 33-16 down, seemingly with little to play for. They were attacking 15 to 20 metres from the right touchline and pressuring the home line.
The ball was suddenly swung left, away from
North’s wing, but here’s the thing: he went after it, running 50 or so metres to the other side of the pitch.
When Dan Biggar eventually threw the said ball back, North gathered it and drove strongly into the cover, sucking in defenders before presenting possession expertly.
No try resulted, but the big man had forced himself into the game.
Too often in the past, the perception has been that he’s let games pass him by. But not in that match against England seven months ago.
Power and pace are his main attributes and when he’s on his game he is a player who can trouble any defence, even New Zealand’s.
Think back to 2016 when North memorably made six clean breaks in the first Test against the All Blacks, his 10 runs yielding 106 metres.
The challenge for Wales is to find the space to work him into. The challenge for North is to keep looking for the ball, as he did in the England match.
When he sets sail in open field there are few more exhilarating sights in rugby, or few more difficult players to stop.
But it needs to happen more often.
It’s that consistency
North needs to silence his critics. But France would not have been partying when they heard he would be facing them in Paris this weekend.
The assumption is ReesZammit will have many starts for his country.
But Pivac wants to tune up his experienced players in a Test environment ahead of a Six Nations encounter a week later.
Is it the worst call to keep belief with a man who has scored tries.against every Tier 1 country bar the All Blacks and who is still capable of causing defences to have sleepless nights?
Not from here it isn’t.