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'A big man now': Bulked-up Llewellyn tipped to fill void left by North
By Chris Jones
Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington believes Max Llewellyn, who has put on 7kgs since moving to the Gallagher Premiership club, can fill the void in the Wales midfield created by the retirement of George North, who gave Warren Gatland’s back line much-needed physical power.
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The Welsh selectors will be out in force at Kingsholm on Friday night when Llewellyn lines up for Gloucester against the Ospreys in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final and having narrowly missed out on selection for last year’s Rugby World Cup in France, the 25-year-old centre has risen to the challenge thrown down by Skivington to put on more bulk.
Llewellyn’s hard work in the gym under the guidance of the Gloucester S&C team has seen the 6ft 5ins centre hit the scales at 109kgs to take him close to the playing weight of his father, Wales second row and former Captain Gareth Llewellyn (6ft 6ins and 114kgs), who was in the stands to see his son score a crucial try in the last 16 win over Castres, knocking four would-be tacklers out of the way.
It was the kind of barnstorming run that made North such a key weapon for Wales and Skivington is convinced a bulked-up Llewellyn, who made his Test debut against England last August, can be the answer to the No13 role for Gatland.
Skivington said: “He has put 7kgs on so far and we were excited about signing Max because he is a young player with a lot of talent. We got him in and he did some good work before the break for the Six Nations and that is when he had a side mission with a conditioning programme to get him in a good spot.
“Fair play to Max, he ripped into it and is 7kgs heavier and the good thing is that we have only just started and he has found his place in the squad and we have good competition in the centres.
“Max is really starting to thrive in the environment and he is a big man now. I spoke to Warren about him, he was close to the World Cup, and it was very tight. They will be touching base with him and with Max having some good games at 13 would promote him with George North moving on. There is a window of opportunity.”
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Skivington also confirmed that Scotland outside half Adam Hastings is set to return to the squad after an extended period out due to injury.
People rave about North and while he developed into a 13 and did nothing majorly wrong, he did not set the world on fire. You think of 13s who had X factor such as BOD, Jon Davies, etc who could make things happen and finish off breaks. North did nothing of the kind. So, Llewellyn for me is a 12 because I don’t see him doing an arching break or having the timed pass to release players on the outside.