George North has lifted the lid on the World Cup pain he is carrying with him through this Six Nations campaign.
The Lions star is preparing to face England for a 14th time in a fixture which holds more sweet career memories for him than any other.
But it is not those that has North fired up ahead of his return to Twickenham, where famously he won with Wales in 2012 and 2015 to set up a Grand Slam and England’s World Cup exit respectively.
He has drawn instead on the wounding memory of Yokohama four months ago, where a 76th minute penalty by eventual winners South Africa ended his own World Cup dream.
“We missed out on one step," said North. "And it will forever kick me in the shin every time I think about it.
"We put heart and soul into it, gave everything physically and emotionally. It takes a while to get over that. Actually, I don’t think you ever really do.
“You always carry that hurt as fuel. It's what gets you up in the morning… to put things right.
“I may not get an opportunity to play in another World Cup, what puts fire in my belly is the hope that I will.”
Of his three World Cups this was the one, the big chance. That’s how North sees it. Wales were No.1 in the rankings a month before. They held the Grand Slam and the national record of 12 straight wins.
“Ask any professional sports person what they feel like when they’ve had a good prep,” he said. “They’ll say it feels like it’s ‘our time’.
“We were massively proud of what we achieved and with our form and the playing staff and coaches and momentum that we had, I do think it was one of our best chances to win it, if not THE best.
“It wasn’t to be and there’s a danger, if you focus too hard on that sort of stuff, that you miss what you’re going through now.
“But you can’t let it all go. You need that fire. You’ve always got to keep pushing forward.”
Hadleigh Parkes has billed Saturday’s game as “the battle of the Severn Bridge” and warned that it's going to be a “brutal affair”.
Wales know that their title defence dies if they are beaten; that rather than possibly taking the fight to the final round of matches, they will instead be scrapping to avoid their worst finish since 2017.
North has been passed fit and made available for selection following his sixth concussion, suffered 11 minutes into the loss to France.
He now has the chance to take his combined cap tally for Wales and the Lions to 99, with this game and next week’s home closer against Scotland.
After that his life changes forever - with wife Becky due to give birth to their first child.
George North is a Land Rover ambassador. Land Rover has been helping rugby fans discover the sport for over twenty years. Visit LandRover.co.uk
