NORTH ‘EXCITED’ TO SIGN OSPREYS DEAL
George North has finally signed to play for the Ospreys, 154 days after announcing his decision to return to Wales on a national dual contract.
The deal will see the 76-cap Wales and Lions wing take his place alongside former Scarlets team-mates Scott Williams and Aled Davies in a revamped Ospreys squad.
“I’m really excited to be joining the Ospreys and starting a new chapter in my career when I return to Wales,” he said.
“I believe the Ospreys have an exciting future with the structure and the recruitment they have put in place and I’m really looking forward to linking up with Allen (Clarke) and the squad in the summer.
“It was a really positive decision for me to sign a National Dual Contract with the support and structure it provides. I have worked alongside the WRU to finalise my choice of region and I would like to thank everyone involved. I’m really looking forward to becoming an Osprey.”
Dan Griffiths, Rugby General Manager, Ospreys Rugby, said: “We are delighted to be able to add George to our squad for next season. A truly world class player, he is someone that everybody at the Region is excited about seeing in an Ospreys jersey; supporters, players and coaches alike.
“George has taken his time to ensure that his decision was the right one and it is fantastic news that he sees our environment as the best place to be going forward.”
Chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, Martyn Phillips, said: “George returning home to Wales is a major positive for Welsh Rugby and for the Ospreys.
“I know he is really looking forward to next season and making a positive impact on Welsh rugby.” North has spent close on half a year mulling over his options, with the Scarlets, Dragons, Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys all expressing interest at various points.
The Scarlets had first call on his services as his region of origin but they pulled out earlier this month, leaving the Blues to make a strong appeal to the wing which reportedly involved head coach-elect John Mulvhill making a personal plea for him to get on board at the Arms Park.
The Dragons also made no secret of their desire for North to pin his star to their wagon. But the Ospreys were always quietly hopeful they could lure North and it became increasingly obvious in recent days that they had succeeded in their quest. The scorer of 34 Test tries, the 6ft 4in, 17st 2lb three-quarter will add hugely to the Liberty team’s firepower and help the Swansea-based side as they look to re-assert themselves after a difficult season.
They may be losing Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb and others but the acquisition of North, Williams, Davies and Tom Botha should help regenerate the squad and add pep to the Ospreys for next term.
EVEN now, the words of the late Blackburn football manager Ray Harford bring a smile: “I’m told we need a big name. Engelbert Humperdinck is a big name, but it doesn’t mean he can play football.”
The Ospreys had a chap with an illustrious reputation heading their team operation between 2009 and 2011.
But they still couldn’t find what they were looking for under Scott Johnson.
“We brought him in to make us great,” said a regional source after Johnson left the region.
“The aim was to win the Heineken Cup.
“But it didn’t happen.” Johnson had done a superb job in his days as Wales skills coach, improving players and encouraging them to consider possibilities they had previously seen as beyond them. A number of players confessed to having been amazed at the strides they had made under the Australian.
But, in a different role at the Ospreys he achieved mixed results, even though he was undeniably a big name.
All this came to mind after the appointment of Allen Clarke as head coach at the Liberty Stadium region. Many supporters would have wanted someone with a higher profile. Indeed, a scroll through some old texts found one from a close friend who had been out to France to see Steve Tandy’s last game in charge, against Clermont Auvergne at Stade Marcel Michelin in January.
It ran: “On my way back from Clermont. Had it on good authority the new coaches will be Ruddock & Filo.”
Evidently, that particular good authority’s reputation has taken a slight hit.
Mike Ruddock and Filo Tiatia were never serious contenders for the Ospreys head coach job post-Tandy, for all their undoubted qualities. Ruddock is ensconced in Dublin and seemingly happy with his lot.
His ability is not in doubt and nor is his familiarity with the works of King Midas – he hoisted the Dragons to a third-place league finish, for heaven’s sake, among his many considerable achievements – but he hasn’t been in charge of a professional club or region for eight years and it wasn’t altogether clear he’d have wanted to take on the Ospreys job even if they’d asked him.
Tiatia was a magnificent on-pitch performer for the Ospreys, so it is understandable that he evokes such positive memories among Liberty fans. It is hard to resist the thought that he did it as a player so he is bound to be able to do it as a coach. If only life were that simple.
It is still relatively early days for him as a senior coach and, being the humble sort that he is, the big man would probably admit he is still developing as a team boss. Who knows? In time he may yet find his way back to Swansea.
Stellar names were considered, among them Heyneke Meyer, Robbie Fleck, John Mulvihill, Jim Mallinder and Stuart Lancaster. Ospreys boss Andrew Millward is believed to have gone out to South Africa to talk to Fleck.
But, as the weeks went by, the region’s power brokers became increasingly impressed by the job Clarke was doing as interim head coach at the Liberty.
They liked the way he managed the players, the respect he commanded and the measured way he dealt with the press and went about his business.
They sensed that those under him were responding to his messages, a point reinforced by the 32-18 beating of a decent-strength Leinster side. Clarke was felt to understand the Ospreys’ culture and seemed in tune with the idea of developing the region’s style.
His background as a high-performance coach with the Irish Rugby Football Union testified to his quality and, indeed, his potential.
Increasingly, the Ospreys began to wonder if the coach they wanted was already on site.
His qualities were endorsed by at least one hugely-respected expert in elite coach development.
He will stand or fall by results, as all coaches do.
Does it matter that Huw Edwards didn’t lead News at 10 with details of Clarke’s appointment on Tuesday evening, edging aside stuff about the royal baby? It shouldn’t.
All that should matter is whether he is a coach of big ability and whether he suits the Ospreys.
Indeed, the former Wales fitness advisor Steve Black had a theory that the best sports-coach appointments didn’t have to involve hiring someone who wheelbarrows home his wages every Friday while whistling Top of the World by the Carpenters.
No, the key for the inimitable Geordie was that the successful candidate should fit the club or team he was taking over.
So, Kevin Keegan and Newcastle United football club were a marriage made in heaven in the mid-1990s. Magpies fans and the club generally craved attacking football and, in Keegan, they had a man to give it to them.
Indeed, Keegan’s Newcastle had more swagger than Errol Flynn crashing through a window on a rope, sliding down a banister and sword-fencing his way past half-adozen armed guards to rescue a damsel in distress.
By contrast, it wasn’t always clear that the organised, structured game that George Graham imposed on Tottenham suited a club for whom style was all-important.
Such stuff matters because a coach or manager sets the tone for a club. Clarke has settled at the Ospreys and embraced the culture. He knows where they have come from, but also understands where they want to go.
The Northern Irishman is amiable, but nobody’s fool.
A Heineken Cup winner with Ulster in 1999 and a former Ireland hooker, he is respected across rugby and, like Pat Lam, he is an individual who has a growth mindset, with a constant hunger to learn and improve himself and his players.
He may just surprise the doubters.