George North will be fit for Six Nations despite surgery

Wales centre George North has undergone surgery after suffering a cheekbone injury. North was hurt during Ospreys’ Heineken Champions Cup defeat against Leicester last weekend, going off at half-time.

But Ospreys boss Toby Booth has delivered an encouraging fitness bulletin, claiming that North “will be good within a two to three-week period”.

And that will also encourage Warren Gatland, whose opening game of his second stint as Wales head coach is a Guinness Six Nations clash against Ireland on February 4.

North, who has won 109 caps and started all four of Wales’ Autumn Nations Series Tests last month, is set to be an integral part of Gatland’s plans.

Booth said that North had an operation on Wednesday, adding: “It a cheekbone and he’s okay. All has gone well.

“He will be good within a two to three-week period. Any facial injury is always a worry, but he is all good.

“I have seen him this week and he has got a nice shiny black eye.

“Outside of that, he’s quite buoyant, so that probably speaks volumes about how he feels.”

North will miss Ospreys’ Champions Cup appointment with Montpellier on Saturday, and also looks set to sit out United Rugby Championship festive derbies against the Scarlets and Cardiff.

The hulking winger has unfortunately struggled with injuries in recent years. In 2017, he suffered a concussion during a match against England, which resulted in him missing several games. In 2018, he sustained another concussion during a match against Scotland, causing him to miss the remainder of the Six Nations tournament.

In 2019, the 6'4, 109kg King's Lynn born North was forced to take a break from rugby due to ongoing issues with his concussions. He returned to the pitch in 2020, but later he suffered a knee injury that required surgery and caused him to miss several more matches.

additional reporting RugbyPass