Latest news with #GeorgeNorth
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Listen RUW: Top 10 Lions Test tries...
George North in 2013 or Sean O'Brien in 2017..?Rugby Union Weekly is back with episode three of the Top 10 series as Matt Dawson and Jamie Roberts compile their list of the best tries in a Lions Test the former Lions got it right or have they missed out on an obvious Top 10 contender?Listen to the latest episode here.
Wales Online
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
George North makes feelings clear on Shaun Edwards as brutal 'Wall of Shame' remark revealed
George North makes feelings clear on Shaun Edwards as brutal 'Wall of Shame' remark revealed The former Wales wing is now out in Provence playing Pro D2 rugby, but has taken a look back on his international career George North (Image: The Rugby Pod ) Wales legend George North has revealed his love for former coach Shaun Edwards — describing him as the best he's ever worked under — and revealed the unique and ruthless motivational tactics the ex-defence guru used to get the best out of his players. Now playing in France with second-tier side Provence, North was interviewed by former international team-mate Dan Biggar as part of a candid catch-up on life after Welsh rugby. And while North touched on his love for life in France and the challenges of adapting to a new rugby culture, it was his memories of working under Edwards with Wales that stand front and centre in his mind. North, who earned 121 caps for Wales and four for the British and Irish Lions, recalled Edwards' notorious 'Wall of Shame' – a blunt post-match review pinned up for all to see. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia. 'The nicest one I ever had was just empty, 'No comment',' North smiled, during the interview on The Rugby Pod. 'That only happened a couple of times!' Recalling one stinging piece of feedback from Edwards, he laughed: 'I had one I remember. It said, 'Do you know what you're doing? Do you listen?' I'd not done what he wanted, or I'd not listened!' Biggar chipped in with his own memory after one particular match, adding: 'We had come down and next to your name was 'Not international standard – sort it!'' Article continues below But behind the brutal honesty was a coach who, North said, cared deeply and commanded total respect. 'The best coach I've been under is Shaun Edwards. Hands down,' North said. 'If I said it was love and holding my hand, I'd be lying. He got the best out of me.' North described Edwards as 'obsessed' with preparation and detail — especially in defence — but praised his humility in owning mistakes when things went wrong. 'Each week he'd have extras based on who we were playing – like at Murrayfield, he was big on dead balls, so we'd spend all week chasing hundreds of them. "Little things like that. The thing I think is incredible about Shaun - everyone at this level is accountable - but he would be the first to put his hand up and say 'I didn't prepare you right'. "He would give you all the tools, ride you like a banshee to be the best you could be, but if they brought something to the table you weren't prepared for he would be the first to put his hand up. That's something I really admired about Shaun." Shaun Edwards and George North during Wales training in 2019 (Image: © Huw Evans Picture Agency ) North also recalled the relentless energy and volume Edwards brought to training, especially for back-three players, whom he held to the highest standards. 'He was unreal. His defensive plan was black and white – you had your role and by God, he held you to it. 'If I was on the other side of the pitch and it wasn't even my fault, he'd still be shouting at me! I can still hear him now shouting, 'Get up, you're never injured!'' Despite the hard edge, North said Edwards always stayed in touch and was 'one of the nicest blokes', adding: 'He still sends me a message.' North also spoke about his move to Provence, where he has settled into life in the south of France with his wife Becky and their two young sons. 'The lifestyle is brilliant,' he said. 'The boys want to be outside all the time — on their bikes, in the skate parks, the swimming pool. It's amazing for that.' He admitted adapting to French rugby has taken time, going from a highly structured environment in Wales to a more free-flowing, unpredictable style. 'Some of it was next level, other bits were nuts,' he said. 'But I found a bit of a groove by the end of the season.' Reflecting on his career's toughest moments, North pointed to injuries that robbed him of potential Lions appearances in 2017 and 2021. '2017 Lions was tough," he said about the hamstring injury which saw him flown home prematurely after two Tests. "That's the only place you want to be and I just didn't get a chance. My hamstring ripped and it took a fair while to absorb that. "Between 2013 and 2015 I just wasn't hissing, just getting marked. That was when social media kicked in and everyone was telling everyone everything. I found that really tough. It wasn't through not trying - it was maybe over-trying. "But injuries are the worst. In 2021 I felt I was playing really good rugby at that time and the Lions tour to South Africa (was coming up) and I ruptured my ACL. "I thought I had a fair crack of the whip to be on that tour so that sits with me. "The injuries, the ACL, the injury with the Lions in 2021, not that I would have been picked, I should ask Gats (Warren Gatland). But they are the ones I found hard because there's nothing you can do about it. Article continues below "With form or social media, you can do something about it - but injuries is the pits for me."
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
I want to make memories, not count minutes
First Test: Argentina v EnglandDate: Saturday, 5 July Kick-off: 20:40 BST Venue: Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi, La PlataCoverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app As he sits on the brink of 100 Test appearances, George Ford says his first remains "the proudest memory of my career".Albeit a short one."I wasn't on the field very long! I managed to sneak on for a minute," he says."I was trying to be present in the moment. "As a kid you dream of it, it is a bit surreal when you actually do it, especially at Twickenham in front of 80,000 people and your family."It was March 2014 against Wales in the Six Nations. After replacing Owen Farrell, Ford fed Billy Twelvetrees a short ball and kicked long up to opposition wing George North in his two involvements before the final while Twelvetrees and North are now seeing out their careers in second-tier club rugby, Ford, who is 32, is still a Test operator."The game has changed a lot in 11 years," he says."There was a lot more time and space back then. Defences bring more line speed, the physicality seems to have gone up another level and the speed of the game has gone up."Forwards are ending up like backs and backs are ending up like forwards these days."In Test rugby, every area is so contested - the breakdown, in the air or the set-piece - if you are not quite on it, you get punished."Maybe there was a bit of margin for error 11 years ago but there definitely isn't now." And there won't be margin for error this are taking on Argentina in the first of two fiendish summer Tests. It is being staged at the 32,000-capacity Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium, home of top-flight football side the Pumas, fifth in the world and fresh from beating the British and Irish Lions, will be being urged on to claim a sweet, long-sought-after series win over England."To walk into an atmosphere like that is incredibly exciting," says Ford."Argentina are a really dangerous team. They have physicality up front, with some passionate, emotional players who base their game on being physical."But they have added skill and X-factor and can make you pay if you are loose, striking fast off turnover and transition."They have definitely taken steps forwards in the recent past. But we feel like we are in a good place ourselves, even with a few new faces and a few guys missing."We have a plan and believe we can cause them some problems."Ford has impressed in the past against was a star performer when England, again without their Lions players, won both matches on tour in was man of the match when England beat Argentina in the 2019 Rugby World he was again when he booted all 27 points to steer 14-man England safely to victory over the Pumas in their 2023 tournament opener. Similarly stellar displays this summer would be was in England's starting 10 through the 2024 Six Nations but, with an Achilles problem ruling him out, Marcus Smith supplanted him on tour in New Zealand, before Fin Smith emerged as first choice in Smiths are away with the Lions at the moment. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Opportunity apparently has long since stopped seeing it like that though. He has been both in and out of favour since 2014. A decade and more in, he takes the long view."Throughout my international career, one thing has been a constant - the debate, discussion and noise around who plays number 10 for England," Ford says."It is always there."Of course we all try to develop and improve, and I will make sure I am putting my hand up. Of course I will."But the main thing here is – and I don't think people quite understand this - that we are all trying to make England win."The mindset for me is that I am part of an England team and squad. Whatever my role is at that time, I will do to the best of my abilities to make the team to win."That is why we are here. Those are the memories you create when the team wins. It is not about how many minutes you play as an individual at 10. It is about how many games you win with England."That is my total mindset towards all this. "Fin and Marcus are away doing unbelievable things with the Lions and my role this summer might be different to what it was in the Six Nations but what I do day in, day out and the consistency of that won't change." That level-headedness and single-mindedness is something Ford is trying to impress on his younger their Lions, England are short of experience. Nine of Saturday's starting XV have fewer than 15 caps. Will Muir and Seb Atkinson will be making their Test debuts, with Guy Pepper likely to follow off the bench."Maybe us experienced lads can lend some advice about what a Test match arena can feel like at times," said Ford."When you are under pump, the pressure is on and the opposition crowd are on their feet... You may be under stress or pressure but it won't last like that forever and you can turn the game. That is what experience gives you."You have gone through it enough times to ride those peaks and troughs and over the full 80 minutes hopefully be able to control it enough to get the result at the end."Eleven years on, 100 caps in, whatever the noise around him, Ford is zeroed in on the win.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Folau carry 'doesn't half put a smile on my face' - North's iconic Lions moment
Twelve years is a long time, and not just in 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 sedate scene is worlds away from the pulsating energy of the moment in 2013 when North entered British and Irish Lions not the finger-wagging 60-metre solo try in the first Test - as jaw-droppingly brilliant as it 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 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 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 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 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 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."
Daily Mirror
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Lions rugby star returns to Australia in time for 2025 tournament
British & Irish Lions sports star has returned Down Under to kick off the upcoming 2025 tournament. George North has returned to Australia just in time for the 2025 British & Irish Lions Tour, which commences in Perth on 28 June. The Rugby union player landed earlier this week to get locals revved up ahead of the tournament. The star started his adventure on the continent by catching up with Wallabies great, Tim Horan, in Brisbane. Together, they enjoyed a picturesque tour of Queensland's capital by bike and kayak, followed by some friendly banter over a pint at Felons Brewery. He then finished off his day striking the Warrior Two yoga pose, pint in hand, during a beer yoga session. The sports legend then jetted off to Perth for a photo shoot on Leighton Beach – donning his beloved red and white colours while posing with a surfboard. Making the most of his time far away from home, North also took the opportunity for a quick zipline near the Optus Stadium at the Matagarup Zip+Climb experience, before toasting to his Aussie adventure at Faber Vineyard in Perth's Swan Valley wine region. After the fun and games, he headed off to meet fans ahead at the Optus Stadium, which will host the first game of the tournament on Friday. "I think the 2025 Tour promises big moments, like everyone at home I'll be backing the Lions to go all the way," said the rugby star. 'With the Tour bringing so many Lions fans down to Australia, it felt like the perfect time to experience the country in a different way – not as a player, but as a traveller,' he added. "Australia's really got so much to offer, [so] if you're only sticking to the stadiums, you're missing some of the best bits. To any Brits thinking about making the trip, just go for it. Australia's epic." Andrew Boxall, regional general manager for Tourism Australia in the UK & Northern Europe added: "We're delighted to be celebrating the British & Irish Lions Tour Down Under this month, and what an incredible way to do so with Lions legend George North. "It's been a pleasure to show George the sights of Brisbane and Perth. We're encouraging all Lions fans heading to Australia to enjoy all there is to do and see in Australia beyond the rugby pitch."
