Ellis Jenkins will captain Wales for the first time on Saturday when he leads his country against South Africa in Washington D.C. The former Wales U20 skipper will line up alongside Seb Davies and Ross Moriarty in the back-row as Wales take on the Springboks in their opening summer tour encounter.

The Ospreys’ derby clash against Cardiff Blues as one half of Judgement Day will offer a chance for revenge for last season as well as an early judgement on the work of Allen Clarke. Graham Thomas looks at the Ospreys’ new permanent head coach, his signing of George North, and the course they have set as they bid to recover their status as Wales’ top region. The first striking thing about Allen Clarke – newly confirmed as the Ospreys’ permanent head coach – is his size, or lack of. The record books listed him as on the small side of scales when it comes to hookers who played international rugby, with a fighting weight of only 14 stones, packed into a 5ft 9in frame.

George North has confirmed his decision to join the Ospreys this summer on a national dual contract. The Wales wing had announced last November he was returning to Wales after five years with Northampton, although at the time he had yet to pick his destination. But after holding talks with all four regions in a long, protracted process, the 26-year-old double Lions tourist has chosen to move to the Liberty Stadium.

George North is heading back to Wales and will wear scarlet, black, blue, or black and red next season. No-one seems to know yet, least of all those marketing folk aiming to shift some extra replica jerseys this summer. Robin Davey says it’s time for George to put his finger on the map. The season has little more than a month to run, yet we still don’t know where star winger George North is heading on his return to Wales this summer. Even more to the point, does North himself know? It’s now five months since the Welsh Rugby Union announced that North would be coming back to Wales on a national dual contract after spending the last five years at Northampton.

Rugby officials in England are to campaign for the tackle area to be lowered after more evidence that injury rates are rising. Three years after George North’s concussion led to changes in the way international rugby is observed by medics, the RFU’s latest injury audit have led to calls for action to halt the rising tide of head injuries. In Wales, no national audit of injuries is undertaken so the evidence collected across the border is considered carefully by World Rugby when they assess the need for law changes.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones returns to lead Wales in their final 2018 NatWest 6 Nations match against France on Saturday (KO17.00). Jones comes back into the pack along with Scarlets duo Rob Evans and Ken Owens and flanker Josh Navidi.

George North scored two tries against Italy last week to remind all of his talents and will look for more against France on Saturday. But his club future remains uncertain, a circumstance Peter Jackson believes has not been helped by the player himself. George North spent a week stewing in silence over a juicy accusation concerning his conspicuous absence from Northampton’s ‘pathetic’ home beating by Sale. Alan Gaffney, the veteran Australian parachuted on to the already burning deck after Jim Mallinder’s sacking, suggested that North missed the match not because of an injury but because he didn’t want to play. Had there been a mistake or a misunderstanding, the Saints had ample time to rectify the matter and say so.

Warren Gatland will read the riot act to Liam Williams this week – but won’t drop the Saracens and British & Irish Lions full-back for the final game of the Six Nations against France this weekend. With Wales shooting for second place in the championship, Gatland knows there can be no margin for error against a power-packed French side that put England in their place in Paris on Saturday. Williams made a couple of first-half errors in the 38-14 win over Italy on Sunday and then picked up a yellow card for a head-high tackle on an Italian player when he was over his own line.

Warren Gatland is ready to turn to George North to help pick up the pieces of Wales’ Six Nations campaign. The Wales coach will start North against Italy next week after the wing made a big impact when he came on as a replacement during the 37-27 defeat to Ireland on Saturday. In what sounded like an admission he wished he had started the Northampton player from the start in Dublin – possibly in place of Liam Williams, rather than Steff Evans – Gatland suggested the return of North would be one of several changes he intended to make for the visit of the Italians to Cardiff on March 11.

Winners against Scotland, losers to England, Wales now need to make changes for their next Six Nations game against Ireland, argues Robin Davey. Dublin, he says, will be won or lost in a battle of the skies. Now the hard work starts for Warren Gatland and his coaching team. The easy bit was selecting an unchanged team for the England clash after the terrific performance against Scotland, though Leigh Halfpenny’s late withdrawal at Twickenham did require a reshuffle. But despite a brave effort against the Six Nations champions, this time there really must be changes with Ireland next up.

Warren Gatland believes fitness could the key to Wales beating England this weekend and is confident his team can show the greater staying power. The Wales coach has shown plenty of stamina himself over the past decade. Saturday’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham will be his 99th in charge of Wales, a landmark that will enable him to pass the previous record of 98 held by Bernard Laporte for any coach within the Six Nations to be in charge of one country. Gatland’s conviction that Wales will get there in the end against the tournament champions is well founded and he can point to victories over the old enemy in 2008, 2012 and 2015 in the World Cup when his team came from behind to take the spoils.

Wales have named an unchanged starting XV from the side that beat Scotland in their NatWest 6 Nations opener for their game against England at Twickenham on Saturday (KO 16.45). There is just one change amongst the replacements with British & Irish Lion George North returning to wear jersey 23.