Folau carry 'doesn't half put a smile on my face' - North's iconic Lions moment

BBC News

3 days ago

Twelve years is a long time, and not just in sport.It's June 2025 and George North is on the north bank of the Brisbane River, in the shadow of Story Bridge, practising yoga in the winter sunshine."It's probably the most Australian thing I've ever done," says the former Wales winger.The sedate scene is worlds away from the pulsating energy of the moment in 2013 when North entered British and Irish Lions folklore.No, not the finger-wagging 60-metre solo try in the first Test - as jaw-droppingly brilliant as it was.It's the 60th minute of the second Test in Melbourne. North has just collected a through-the-legs pass from Brian O'Driscoll and is faced by his opposite number Israel Folau, a winger of similar 6ft 4in and 17-stone stature, with nowhere to go.Seemingly wrapped up by Folau's tackle, North decides to pump his legs and, ball in hand, scoops up his opposite number before using the Australia winger - now upside down on North's back - as an improvised human battering ram. Wallabies were being knocked over like skittles."A bit silly to be honest," is the way North remembers it. "Not my best idea," he adds.Iconic moments have come to define the 137-year history of the Lions. JPR or Jeremy Guscott's drop-goals, Robert Jones squaring up to Nick Farr-Jones, Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer's team talk, Matt Dawson's dummy, O'Driscoll's knife-through-butter try, the list goes on.That North's moment occurred in the second Test, the one the Lions lost by a single point, is almost forgotten. It came to define the 2-1 series victory over Australia in 2013.North reveals that when he meets Lions fans, as he did on his recent 10-day working holiday in Australia, there is one thing they want to talk about."It's probably the Izzy Folau carry," he says. "And then it gets on to the try and the excitement and drama the Test series brought. Going to the decider [in 2013] was incredibly special as a player, but as a fan it was also as incredible."I never thought I'd be able to play for the Lions, playing for your country for me is the biggest honour anyone can award you and I never thought I'd be in the conversation to be a Lion, let alone tour two times."But to then say you've had an impact that people remember, an iconic moment, it doesn't half put a smile on my face."
'Lions history is so unique, so special'
Despite already being a Six Nations winner, life "got busy" for North after that tour."I'd just joined Northampton, so 2013 put me into a different bracket when I came home and it was amazing to be recognised for what you do," he adds.So what does he think about when it comes to the British and Irish Lions? Is it that 2013 tour, or the 2017 tour to New Zealand, which for him ended in injury before the Test matches began?"I think about the history of the Lions. It's something that's so unique, so special, that when you're in that environment you can't help but feel it and carry it and that's something I think is incredible," he says."That honour you have and the responsibility you have for that jersey certainly kept me fighting hard every day and at my best."From a personal point of view 2013 was probably the best rugby I've ever played. It was certainly a tour that for me was an incredible experience, on the field, the players I got to play with, what we did and the ability to tour an amazing country like Australia."North, who went on to win 121 caps for Wales, is still only 33 and now playing for Provence in the French second division, from where he will watch the Lions as a fan. Does he miss it?"Do you know what, when I was [in Australia] I was going 'maybe I can still go', like most ex-players," he reveals."I absolutely loved my tour, what I was able to achieve and do, but it's time for these boys now to find their feet."Does he have a prediction for 2025?"I was thinking about this. Controversially I'm going to go Australia win the first one, Lions win the second, and it goes down to the third and Lions win 2-1."That's what happened against Australia in 1989, I say."Do you know what, I was a 1992 baby," he chuckles. "I'll have to take your word for it."