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Hope for Wales as Saints give explanation for North's last minute withdrawl
By Alex Fisher
Warren Gatland can breathe a sigh of relief after Northampton Saints confirmed George North only missed their Anglo-Welsh Cup clash with Sale Sharks as a precaution.
North was due to make his first start since October in Saturday's match at the AJ Bell Stadium, the winger having made two appearances from the bench after recovering from a knee injury.
However, North was replaced in the starting XV minutes before kick-off, raising doubts about his fitness ahead of the Six Nations.
Northampton went on to win 24-20, but the focus after the match was the situation with the Wales international.
Interim head coach Alan Dickens confirmed there was no new injury to the 25-year-old and that he was simply not risked.
"George North pulled out just before kick-off," said Dickens. "He was just tight so it was a precautionary measure to hold him back.
"He's probably had a tough week training with Wales.
"It was an unfortunate last-minute withdrawal so not ideal."
Warren Gatland is due to name his XV to face Scotland in their Six Nations opener on Tuesday.
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Not sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
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