North faces his moment of truth in Eternal City

Throughout his obsessive quest for perfection, Jonny Wilkinson used a stark piece of pragmatic philosophy: “Treat every match as if it’s going to be your last.’’ George North, for one, could do a lot worse than remind himself of that before Wales line up in Rome this afternoon even if the fixture has become an excuse for filling their boots since they fell victim to a dodgy piece of time keep ten years ago.

Nobody has filled them more than North and never more so than on his last visit – a hat-trick when Wales ran riot and very nearly picked the title out of Ireland’s pocket. Against everyone else they have accomplished next to nothing of a riotous nature since roasting England in Cardiff four years ago.

The idea then of Wales onsidering the mightiest of all European wings the teeniest bit droppable would have been laughed out of court. Nobody is laughing now and if North misfires again today there can be no guarantee that he will start against England next Saturday.

The cumulative effect of five concussions is impossible to estimate with any authority. Due allowance has been made for such a recurring trauma even if the player himself has made the preposterous claim that it’s all a figment of media imagination, fake news.