Concussions make me fear for George North’s future, admits Wales coach Warren Gatland

"So that is a concern. If he is feeling confident about getting back and wanting to get on the park and play some rugby, then that’s a decision he is going to make. He’s been out for a considerable amount of time but it’s one of those situations where he’s such a young player if he picks up two or three more of those in the next year, that’s going to finish his career, isn’t it?” It might be fair to point out that if Gatland was so concerned for North's wellbeing, why did he and his medical team allow him to return to action after being knocked out against England in the Six Nations? But the New Zealander has defended the handling of that incident and rejected criticism of the care provided to North. “I was very upset with the criticism,” he said. “If we had seen that we would definitely have taken him off. There was definitely no negligence on our part. I am very conscious of player welfare and putting players first.”