DRAGONS PUSH ON IN RACE TO SIGN NORTH
THE Dragons are pulling out all the stops in a bid to convince George North to join new signing Ross Moriarty in spearheading the Rodney Parade revolution.
They have outlined plans to become Wales’ top region within three years and recruit a couple of world forward stars as go-ahead coach Bernard Jackman looks to beef up his pack.
It’s understood the Gwent region – the Welsh Rugby Union is majority shareholders after taking it over last July – are cautiously optimistic about signing Wales and Lions star North.
The Dragons have already bagged Lions and Wales back-row powerhouse Moriarty from Gloucester and Wales scrum-half cap Rhodri Williams from Bristol for next season, with Jackman planning on recruiting 14 players in all.
Northampton Saints wing or centre North has strong ties in Gwent, with his girlfriend, Olympic silver medallist and multi-world champion track cyclist Becky James, hailing from Abergavenny.
But he has indicated to the Dragons he wants more time to weigh up his options before deciding on which Welsh region to play for next season.
Strugglers Ospreys, who have begun a rebuilding campaign which has already seen them prise Wales pair Scott Williams and Aled Davies from the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues respectively are also in the market for his prized signature. “For me, it’s a case of sitting down with them all properly, and having a conversation about who’s coming and who’s going, who they are recruiting, the brand of rugby they’re playing, and where I would best fit in with that, somewhere that would allow me some ball in space to do what I can do,” North recently told Sky Sports.
North was controversially sold to Northampton by the Scarlets in 2013 and believes he has “come on leaps and bounds” during his stint at the Aviva Premiership club.
He hopes to be return to action from the knee injury which ruled him out of the autumn internationals before Christmas. The 6ft 4in finisher’s ambition is to join Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn and Stephen Jones, Gareth Thomas and Martyn Williams in Wales’ 100-cap club and believes signing a NDC will help him achieve his goal.
“I feel it gives me the full benefit of being taken care of by the union; they monitor games, they control your time off and your pre-season,” said North.
“It will allow me to get the best out of myself, so I know when I take the field I am in the best possible place to play my best rugby and to really kick on.”
SCARLETS head coach Wayne Pivac has said he wouldn’t hesitate in giving Mike Phillips another call if his side suffered a further scrum-half injury crisis this season.
Phillips came out of retirement to answer an SOS for the region’s two Guinness PRO14 matches in South Africa.
He came on at half-time in the win over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth and played more than an hour at altitude in Bloemfontein in last weekend’s loss to the Cheetahs.
Gareth Davies and Aled Davies have both returned from the Wales camp ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup round three clash with Benetton in Llanelli so Phillips has flown back to his home in Dubai.
But with Jonathan Evans and Declan Smith sidelined with ankle injuries, Pivac has revealed that the 35-year-old will be ready to if the Scarlets need him again.
“If we are in the same situation, we wouldn’t hesitate (to call on Phillips),” said the New Zealander.
“Obviously, we would go within our squad first, but at the moment we have got two fit half-backs, one with a bit of a niggle in his shoulder.
“We will be in constant contact with Mike, he is on a training programme and ready to go if need be.
“He enjoyed himself so much he said he would be ready to help out should the need arise.
“He has kept himself in good shape, you saw that going something like 62 minutes at altitude against the Cheetahs and 40 minutes against the Kings.
“He did a great job and was great with the young players, he didn’t just come in and hang around with the one or two he knew.
“He got right in behind the whole squad and you see from his comments that he really enjoyed himself, on and off the field.
“He talked about the camp and how enjoyable it was.”
Gareth Davies sat out last week- end’s Wales win over South Africa because of a slight shoulder niggle, but is hopeful of being fit for Saturday’s Benetton game – a tie the Scarlets need to win, probably with a bonus point, to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Wales flanker Aaron Shingler is carrying a foot issue and is going to be given a couple of weeks off, while prop Samson Lee will again be missing as he recovers from the Achilles problem that saw him miss Wales’ entire autumn campaign.
Lock Lewis Rawlins is undergoing a head assessment after taking a knock against the Cheetahs, while new Aussie signing Steve Cummins has been registered for Europe at the expense of Wales lock Jake Ball, who could be out for up to four months following shoulder surgery.