Wales great George North announces international retirement
Wales centre George North has confirmed that Saturday's Guinness Six Nations encounter with Italy will be his last match in Test rugby.
The 31-year-old returns to Wales' starting XV for the Wooden Spoon decider at the Principality Stadium in round five of the Six Nations, having missed out entirely on the 45-24 loss to France, in what will prove to be his last game in red.
With a move lined up to French outfit Provence at the end of the season, the Ospreys centre confirmed on social media that Saturday will be his 121st and final match for Wales.
The decision will bring to an end a 14-year international career, which began in 2010 when North made his Wales debut as an 18-year-old against South Africa.
Since his debut, North has scored 47 tries for Wales, which leaves him second on the all-time tally for his country.
North's exploits in the red jersey of the British & Irish Lions are also legendary. He went on two Lions tours, 2013 and 2017, starting in all three Tests in the series win over Australia, scoring one of the great Lions tries in the first Test.
The former Northampton Saints wing has not been shy of silverware with Wales either with four Six Nations titles to his name, including Grand Slams in 2012 and 2019.
North is the latest in a string of Welsh greats to retire over the past year, joining the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny. This is a further blow to Wales' back line as well, with Warren Gatland losing star winger Louis Rees-Zammit to the NFL before the Six Nations.
"I've decided that the game on Saturday will bring my international career to an end," he wrote online.
"After 14 years it feels like now is the right time to step away.
"I have loved and cherished every second in a Welsh shirt and been able to play alongside some fantastic teammates.
"I've been very lucky to have lived my dream. I'm excited for the next chapter.
"Thank you all for your support over the years."
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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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