North on the verge of making club announcement - reports

It appears that Wales winger George North has finally made a decision on his new club for next season – ending months of speculation.

The Ospreys have won the race to sign the Welsh international winger, beating the Cardiff Blues and the Dragons, with an announcement imminent according to reports on Wales Online.

However RugbyPass understands that the Dragons never felt confident in signing North and with his old club Scarlets ruling themselves out, it was effectively down to a two-horse race.

The Ospreys are desperate to rebuild a backline that will be decimated by departures at the end of the season – Rhys Webb is going to Toulon, while Dan Biggar is headed for North’s current club Northampton, not to mention Eli Walker’s retirement and Ben John’s year-long sabbatical as he attempts to recover from a series of head knocks.

They have already recruited Scott Williams from the Scarlets, while the 26-year-old North would be another welcome addition.

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The 1.93m and 109kg winger, who can also operate at centre, agreed a National Dual Contract with the Welsh Rugby Union at the end of November.

The Ospreys had looked in disarray when Steve Tandy was sacked in January, but interim boss Allen Clarke has managed to steady things somewhat.

Meanwhile, North’s alternative destination – the Cardiff Blues – have had an excellent finish to the season and are in the Challenge Cup final, which takes place in Bilbao in less than three weeks time.

The Blues are also going to be playing in the Champions Cup next season, while the Ospreys hopes of participating in that competition hinge on PRO14 playoff, which as it stands would be against Ulster.

There has been some controversy in North’s final months at Northampton. He was disciplined over for missing a training session ahead of the Saints’ Aviva Premiership clash with Sale Sharks in March.

The clubs Director of Rugby Alan Gaffney had suggested in the aftermath of the match that he’d been unwilling to play.

Before the punishment was handed out Wales head coach Warren Gatland said he felt there was a danger that North’s contract could be ended by the English Premiership club.

“He took a lot of criticism, you start to worry a bit, don’t you? What’s going to happen? Are Northampton going to terminate my contract, am I going to have a job next week or what’s going to happen?”

“My role is to support the players as much as I can and I was just sending him a message to say ‘if something does happen, we are here to support you’. That’s the message to George.”

Video: Warren Gatland thought there was a danger that Northampton would terminate George North’s contract.