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'Switzerland is a visually beautiful place, but it won't be for us... training has been pretty savage'

By Online Editors
Wales' George North of Wales arrives at training on Saturday at the Vale Resort (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

George North believes Wales are in their “best-ever” position and ready to cope with the huge weight of national expectation heading into the 2019 World Cup.

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The European champions head towards that tournament in Japan as the form team in international rugby and only behind New Zealand in the world rankings.

Wales secured the Six Nations Grand Slam with a 14th successive win in March, and Warren Gatland’s side have not tasted defeat since losing to Ireland in February 2018.

“We’re in the best position we’ve ever been in,” North said at Wales’ kit launch for the World Cup. “Historically we’ve always been the underdogs going in. We’ve often struggled with the Six Nations before it, there’s often more to go.

“But the squad’s been in a great place for the last two years. It’s a great mixture of not only young and old players, but a lot of younger players with great experience to push on the older players. It’s quite a settled number and everyone knows what they’re doing.

“The most brutal thing now is cutting down (the squad) from 40-odd to 31 and being ready to go. All we can do now is put our best foot forward and keep slogging.”

Lions star North made his World Cup debut in 2011 when Wales made the semi-finals in New Zealand, agonisingly losing 9-8 to France after captain Sam Warburton’s early red card. The 27-year-old wing or outside centre was also in the Wales side that exited the 2015 World Cup at the quarter-final stage against South Africa.

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Wales’ rise up the world rankings since and the best unbeaten run in their history – Gatland’s men have defeated every side in World Rugby’s top eight except New Zealand since they started their winning burst – has raised excitement levels ahead of the World Cup to fever pitch.

Asked if Wales could meet those expectations, North said: “I think so. If you look at the Six Nations and autumn series we slogged games out when we shouldn’t have. We’ve probably been guilty in the past of not being able to close games out when we should have and they were there for the taking.

“The development of this team has taken a big step forward from going toe to toe and going the extra mile in those last 10 or 15 minutes of games. We haven’t faded away, we’ve been able to push on again and get results when we’ve historically flaked away and lose at the end.”

Wales have been boosted by the return of Bath back-rower Taulupe Faletau, who missed the four-game autumn series clean sweep after breaking his arm in October. The two-time British and Irish Lion then had to sit out the Six Nations after suffering another injury to the same right arm and undergoing further surgery.

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But Faletau and lock forward Cory Hill, who suffered an ankle injury in the act of scoring a try during the Six Nations win against England in February, are back with the squad ahead of a two-week training camp in Switzerland.

“It’s been pretty savage,” North said about the start of Wales’ World Cup training programme. “These early weeks you’ve got to get good volume in your legs and lungs and get in the best position for that last selection.

“We’ve got a tough fortnight in Switzerland, which is visually a beautiful place but it won’t be for us. It will be full-fat milk over there! Then it will be a week back here and into the (warm-up) games against England and Ireland.”

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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