“Christ. Ten years?” George North exclaims when I remind him that our last interview took place in January 2014. The Wales centre leans forward at his team hotel outside Cardiff and listens closely when I read out the opening line of that old interview which began with a wry quote from his youthful self: “At the ripe old age of 21 I already feel like I’m in the body of a 31-year-old. It’s just been non-stop really. I think if I did stop I would just fall apart.”
North has now won 118 caps, played in four World Cups and is deep in preparations for his 14th Six Nations. We will soon talk about his desire to help Wales’s new captain, Dafydd Jenkins, who is the same age North was 10 years ago, and losing the 22-year-old Louis Rees-Zammit in a shock move to the NFL. North also opens up and confronts those who have expressed their opinions and concern about the concussions that have occurred during his long career. He argues that he goes far beyond normal medical protocols to protect himself.
