George North: Ospreys savour return of Wales back in Scarlets victory
- Published
George North has played 102 internationals for Wales
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth welcomed the return of George North following a year out through injury.
North was a first-half replacement in the thrilling 54-36 win over Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship.
He was the latest high-profile Ospreys player to return from injury following Gareth Anscombe, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate and Dewi Lake.
"It's great to see good players come through long-term injuries and get back performing well," said Booth.
"Gareth Anscombe is a great example. I said previously that he needed time and we're starting to see a true reflection of him as a player.
"We could keep going. Those boys that have been absent for a year plus, for us, are big players.
"You can't hide away from that. It provides opportunity for your other players to get valuable miles on the clock but ultimately there's a reason that they've played 150 first-class games, 150 Test matches. They are what they are.
"It's great when you're trying to grow a group of players into being something."
North came on in the centre against Scarlets for the injured Mat Protheroe, with Michael Collins dropping to full-back.
"Our hand was forced and we knew actually the advantage of having George at 13 means he's going to get his hands on the ball a little bit more and we know he's going to be a handful," added Booth.
"We deliberated on starting him. He's been out for a long time and it was my decision, which was thought around what is best for George and the team.
"If you're starting, you've got that big lead-in time [thinking about] how it's going to be. What if this happens? Sometimes it's better to be just: 'Right, you're in, let's go'.
"The good thing for us is we have more competition in the backline, which is great."
URC highlights: Ospreys 54-36 Scarlets
Welsh woes
Ospreys' emphatic victory over Scarlets and Edinburgh's bonus-point defeat against Ulster means no Welsh region can reach the URC play-offs by finishing in the top eight.
The highest a Welsh side can now finish is ninth, with three Irish, three South African and two Scottish sides battling it out in the end of season play-offs.
The domestic contest switches to the fight for the Welsh Shield and Heineken Champions Cup qualification.
The Welsh Shield is awarded to the top finishing region, with the winning team handed a place in the Champions Cup next season. Ospreys and Scarlets are battling it out for the honours.
Ospreys have two home games remaining, against Dragons and Bulls, while Scarlets host Stormers on the final weekend of the season.
There are five league points separating the two sides and two bonus-point wins for Ospreys would ensure they finish as Wales' leading region and book a place among Europe's elite next season.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.