PETER JACKSON

Now that the World Cup has come and gone, so, too, has a distinguished team of veterans with matching track records. While the majority have confirmed their retirement, George North is perhaps entitled to take umbrage at any assumption that Australia 2027 will be beyond his reach.
At 31, he is younger than the rest but, having started at 18, he has been hacking it at the highest level longer than most, hence his achievement as the first Six Nations’ player to appear in four consecutive quarter-finals. Expecting him to be on the starting grid for a fifth is about as unreasonab...