George North leads a small army of Wales internationals the Ospreys expect to be back for the region’s European Champions Cup game against Montpellier in Swansea on Saturday evening.
The news is timely for Wales head coach Warren Gatland ahead of his Six Nations squad naming next Tuesday.
North has been sidelined since the game with Leicester on December 11 when he suffered a cheekbone and eye socket injury that involved four fractures. He is set to be involved against the French champions, along with fellow Test men Rhys Webb, Alex Cuthbert, Adam Beard, Jac Morgan and Owen Williams, all of whom missed the United Rugby Championship game with Leinster last weekend.
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"All five of those are available,” said Ospreys head coach Toby Booth. “They’re all back — back and around it, George North as well. It’s good to get him back. It’s going to be a massive challenge, but it’s good to have those boys back for sure.”
The Ospreys came unstuck against Leinster, but the availability again of one of their key strike runners will bolster them and is also a considerable boost for Wales. Warren Gatland planned to take the big man on tour with the Lions in 2021, only for injury to intervene. But a fit North is a plus for any side.
“The greater the standing of the player and the vocality of the player, the more authority they command, and George is one of those,” said Booth. “He’s been there and done it as a 100-cap international player, so when he talks people listen. He knows his performance has to stand up but it’s good for these young players to be around people like that, because it makes a difference.”
Not such good news for the Ospreys is the update on Mat Protheroe. He sustained a broken arm early in the Leinster game while the the Swansea.com Stadium team are waiting on Keiran Williams after his bruising effort against Montpellier game and Ethan Roots is also on the casualty list, along with Morgan Morris, albeit the Ospreys remain hopeful Morris may make the selection mix to face Montpellier.
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