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Toby Booth on 'harsh reality' as another star leaves Wales
By PA
Ospreys boss Toby Booth has reflected on the “harsh reality” of Welsh rugby’s economic climate after French second division club Provence swooped to sign Wales star George North.
The 31-year-old Ospreys centre, who has won 119 caps and scored 47 tries for Wales, heads to southern France on a two-year deal next summer, where his new team-mates will include current Wales prop Tomas Francis.
North, who will remain available to Wales head coach Warren Gatland after the Provence switch, follows World Cup colleagues Francis, Dan Biggar, Henry Thomas and Will Rowlands in joining French clubs.
Two other World Cup performers – Liam Williams and Gareth Anscombe – are with Japanese teams Kubota Spears and Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath, respectively. They will be unavailable for this season’s Six Nations.
“It is really regrettable when you lose top talent like George, and we will be disappointed to see him go,” head coach Booth told the Ospreys’ official website.
“Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality we are encountering in Welsh rugby at this time.
“The economic constraints we are currently facing mean that while we strive to retain our premium talent, finances mean that sometimes we will be unable to.
“Moving forward, we are focusing on maintaining balanced squad depth that can uphold the standards we set for the Ospreys.
“With that being said, we understand George’s decision to leave and wish him and his family all the best at Provence.”
Wales’ four professional regions – Ospreys, Dragons, Cardiff and Scarlets – will see reduced budgets of £4.5million per team next season.
The Gallagher Premiership salary cap, meanwhile, will rise to £6.4million for 2024-25, and Top 14 French clubs currently operate on a £9.2million cap.
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Think we have to accept we have been on the slide for a while now.Still interesting to see the repeated media pieces about the myth of the ABs slipping-I would say slipped past tense.In part don’t we have to give credit for the improvement of other nations particularly Ireland?Isnt that good for the game?Are we beginning to feel the impact of losing the Boks from Super rugby and maybe soon TRC?I would agree we are also ran right now so will be interesting to see how we progress-assuming we do!Isnt that part of sport though to be in improvement mode?Back to the stats though I think the Boks were under 60% leading into 2019?Now with the focus on the RWC does it matter so much what you are doing between tournaments?You just get through your group(remembering the ABs qualified 2nd in 2023)and then you have 3 matches to win the thing.
Go to commentsThe ABs have more than enough back line guys so don’t see issue there. Just the balance at center and feel time for Rieko to sit out.Forwards- balance still not right. Front row ok but miss Codie. But still ok. Locks- you now need to start s a tall timber at middle of lineout- Darry is the right guy. Then move Sititi to 8, move Ardie to 7 and then move Vaai to blindside. He can become the closest to PSdT . Then have proper bench as this is not a demotion but key to dominating last 30 minutes- Patrick, Ofa etc are golden here. Get the balance right between starters and finishers
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