‘One more blow and George North has to quit’

One of world rugby's leading medical figures is advising George North to retire should he suffer another head injury.
The Welsh Lion is due to make his latest come-back within the next eight weeks after a series of knock-out blows raised serious questions over his future.  Four bouts of concussion in as many months have prompted Dr Barry O'Driscoll, to warn that North cannot afford a fifth.
Dr O'Driscoll was the first to call for North to take a five-month break after his last knock-out on March 29.
Wales plan to reintroduce North after exactly five months, against Ireland in Dublin on August 29.
Dr O'Driscoll said: “I'd say to George:  You know the long-term effects.  You have to weigh up the risk.   If you get concussed again, my advice would be to give up.
“If a community player playing the game for enjoyment had been knocked out as often as George has in recent months, you'd be saying:  ‘Do not play this game again.'   Simple as that.
“I am very pleased for George's sake that he has not played since the last knock-out, all the more so because there had been talk about him coming back before the end of the season.
‘'In their various pre-World Cup camps, international players will be put through a brutal build-up. If any of them get any symptoms, there will be a temptation to say nothing about them because World Cups only come round once every four years.
“Athletes, generally speaking, have great belief that everything will be ok.   Having said that, in my opinion the psychological aspect of several blows to the head has got to be there.
‘'We think we know quite a lot about the brain but it's minutiae compared to what we don't know.   You have billions of nerve cells all sending messages to one another. You don't know which ones have been damaged.   That's why research is vital.”
Now in Switzerland at Wales' two-week Alpine fitness camp, North says he feels ‘back to normal'.     Wales are taking no risks.   He will not start any contact training until next month which indicates that Wales will not rush their fearsome wing back for the first of three warm-up matches, Ireland in Cardiff on August 8.
PETER JACKSON