This should have been a triumphant 10 months in the rugby life of George North, one in which a Lions tour had been pencilled in for the big man and with it a potential Test place against world champions South Africa.
A date for Wales against New Zealand on eve-of-Halloween should also have offered him a stage, while there could have been opportunities to maintain his momentum with the Ospreys in the Heineken Champions Cup and in the United Rugby Championship.
Instead, he’s been engaged in a brutally tough fight to recover from injury, having smashed his right knee playing for the Ospreys against Cardiff last April. That afternoon, all his rugby hopes for the best part of a year took a direct hit.
