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The 34-year-old announced his retirement from rugby on Wednesday morning, having left an indelible mark on the sport
George North defined a generation as a player(Image: World Rugby via Getty Images)
For a while, George North was a literal giant among men. A freak, for lack of a better word, in a game for all shapes and sizes.
Eventually, the world – in a way – caught up. The professional game is a land of giants now, but not before North, who announced his retirement from the game on Wednesday morning, left an indelible mark.
The fireman’s lift on Israel Folau in that second Lions Test in 2013, the tour in which the wider world sat up and took notice of the north Walian, is perhaps as defining an image as Jonah Lomu barrelling over Mike Catt or Sir Gareth Edwards diving over in the corner for the Barbarians.
Few get the chance to be a part of a moment so synonymous.
The irony is that North’s try in the first Test was far more meaningful, more tangible, than lifting the Wallabies’ dangerman onto his back and marching down the field in Melbourne.
Yet, beyond the tries and accolades, and there were many, it served as a touchpoint to easily define North in that era of rugby.
Warren Gatland’s Wales in that era, perhaps more than any other team, were a team that were defined by the shorthand that surrounded them.
Warrenball was the tag that stuck. Big, physical backs doing the hard carrying.
North epitomised that, although there was so much more to his game.
Three years earlier before his first exploits with the Lions, North had gone from Llandovery College to a handful of games for the Scarlets to scoring twice on his Wales debut against the world champion Springboks – all in the blink of an eye.
The rise was terrifyingly quick.
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As he rose to his feet after the second of those tries, having gathered a Stephen Jones cross-field kick ahead of Bryan Habana, the 18-year-old’s legs give way a little.
It’s hardly surprising, given the circumstances, but there’s just the look of a baby deer as he slips and slides for a moment before regathering his balance.
That feels like a lifetime ago.
Those early years promised so much. Wales in the early 2010s were a dominant force and North was just a phenomenon. Not just devastatingly powerful, but quick and agile too.
Watching back clips from the 2011 World Cup, it looked as if North was just playing a different sport at times.
Of course, the path is rarely straightforward. There were lows, such as a numerous concussions at the midway point of his career.
But, to his credit, he remained a crucial part of Wales’ side for over a decade. Three years as a freak of nature is one thing, 14 years as a mainstay is another.
By the time he emotionally called time on his Wales career back in 2024, the accolades were just staggering.
Only the second Welshman behind Alun Wyn Jones to start more than 100 Tests for his country, being third on Wales’ all-time appearance list with 121.
He was second only to Shane Williams in the try-scoring chart too, having dotted down 47 times for his country.
Four Six Nations titles, two World Cup semi-finals, two British and Irish Lions tours.
Were it not for injury in 2021, he’d likely have gone on a third tour as a centre – a testament to how he moved into midfield later in his career.
The first Welshman to play in four World Cup quarter-finals, having still been a crucial figure for Wales in the 2023 World Cup – a dozen years after he first showed the world what he could do.
The youngest to 50 caps, then the youngest to 100 caps.
A freak, for lack of a better word. But our freak.
And what fun it was to witness.
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