{"id":647068,"date":"2026-06-19T11:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/647068\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:34:10","slug":"george-north-to-play-against-wales-in-final-match-of-his-career-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/647068\/","title":{"rendered":"George North to play against Wales in final match of his career next week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Wales legend will lace up his boots one final time at Twickenham against his former team-mates<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_RUGBYU_North_08370265.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"George North will play for the Barbarians against Wales\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">George North will play for the Barbarians against Wales(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">George North will draw the curtain on his glittering career by playing one final game for the Barbarians against Wales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The 34-year-old announced his retirement from rugby in April but will lace up his boots one last time against the nation for who he scored 47 tries in 121 caps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">History will remember North as one of Welsh rugby&#8217;s modern day greats and the giant wing or centre is one of two Wales internationals in the Barbarians squad for next week&#8217;s match; Dragons hooker Elliot Dee is the other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It is the first time the former <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/scarlets\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Scarlets<\/a>, Northampton Saints, <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/ospreys\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Ospreys<\/a> and Provence Rugby star has represented the Barbarians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s always been a dream of mine to play for the Barbarians so to be invited now, for a game at Twickenham, against Wales is just incredible,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Walesrugbynews\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI have been so privileged to enjoy the career that I have had, and I have so many unforgettable memories from Wales and friendships to last a lifetime. So to go out against my country, with some of my friends and teammates playing is so special.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cTo also be able to play alongside some of the best and most exciting players in the world, and to enjoy that famous Barbarians spirit is something I couldn\u2019t turn down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t wait to link up with the boys next week and hopefully we can do something special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">During a career that has spanned 16 years, North has helped Wales to four <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/all-about\/six-nations\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Six Nations<\/a> titles, including two Grand Slams, and twice toured with the British &amp; Irish Lions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He follows fellow Welsh legends Shane Williams and Alun Wyn Jones in playing for the Barbarians against Wales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">North will be part of a star-studded Barbarians squad which includes Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe, former All Blacks scrum-half TJ Perenara and former France centre Virimi Vakatawa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">His last cap for his country came against Italy in the 2024 Six Nations and he will face a Wales side at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, that is in transition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our<a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=e90f3817-255f-4349-881b-d9a4515d3f52&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\"> free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/L8kRCygN2HM6E7iILK0spC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wales legend will lace up his boots one final time at Twickenham against his former team-mates George&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[147876,64890,5903,101,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-647068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-barbarians-rfc","tag-george-north","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}