George North discusses rehab and the Lions

Welsh and British & Irish Lions speedster George North has opened up on his current condition and the current Lions tour, on which he missed out through injury. 

North suffered knee ligament damage in a club encounter towards the end of April. 

“It’s been tough watching the rugby over the last few weeks,” he said, chatting to walesonline.co.uk. 

“Making the tour was always the goal. 

“I’d been enjoying my rugby again and had worked hard to be in a position to be in the selection debate, but the injury ruled me out. 

“You just have to try to crack on. 

“I’ve had some positive news and now it’s a case of just keeping working hard so I can get back. 

“I don’t have a return schedule just yet. 

“After next week, I will sit down with the physio team, draw up a plan and be completely focused on that.” 

North also shared his thoughts on the current Lions series which was levelled on Saturday as the Springboks ran out 27-9 winners. North seems optimistic, however. 

“The result can be reversed, 100 percent,” he said. 

“This is now all or nothing, with the players having an opportunity not many people have, to go out there and play in a Test series decider. 

“South Africa were never going to let the Lions win the series without a fight. They were always going to come out all guns blazing after their loss in the first encounter. 

“They just played a better Test match in the second game. 

“I know how many good players there are in the Lions squad, so there’s still plenty of hope. 

“I just think they lost a bit of momentum in the second half and there weren’t so many of those double hits they’d been putting in. 

“And when you lose momentum, the penalty count goes up. 

“It happened in the first Test to South Africa, but this time it happened to the Lions. 

“When you are losing that physical battle it’s always going to be a difficult one. 

“But South Africa turned things around in a week, so there’s no obvious reason why the Lions can’t do the same. 

North went on to discuss the second encounter and, specifically, how useful Liam Williams could be going forward. 

“It wasn’t an exciting Test, was it?” he said. 

“But it’s a results business, and whether you win by one point or 100 points, it’s a Test match series and it's the win that counts. 

“So it’s a case of ‘well done to South Africa'. But it’s all down to the final game now. It doesn’t matter how you do it, it’s just about getting that victory. 

“You need a solid back three who are safe in the air against South Africa. 

“Sanjay (Williams) offers you those skills in the air. I would pick him. 

“I don’t know what Gats will do. Historically, he trusts boys to step up when he gives them a chance. I suppose you could flip it around and say that the back-three boys have had two chances now. 

“Given the aerial battle, you’d expect someone like Sanjay to be playing because that’s one of his strongest areas.”