George North will leave Northampton at the end of this season and return to Wales on a national dual contract, with the Dragons believing they can tempt him to Rodney Parade. The Lions wing, who has won 69 Wales caps and scored 30 tries, has agreed a deal from next term, the Welsh Rugby Union have announced. North has been one of the biggest names in the European game over recent years and his tally of caps means he could have chosen to stay in English rugby, or moved to France, and still have been eligible for Wales selection as he is comfortably above the new 60-cap threshold.

Welsh Rugby Union chairman Gareth Davies is grappling with reform of the game and has already declared an intention to slim down a bloated system. But Geraint Powell argues it’s how the various parts of that system fit together that really counts. Last month, I looked at the question of Welsh Rugby Union governance modernisation (http://www.dai-sport.com/welsh-rugby-reform-needs-unity-not-war-money-men-blazers/), particularly the need to build aligned devolved/decentralised regional board structures to help underpin the WRU board and to replace the outdated and non-aligned WRU districts system. This will facilitate the member clubs electing a slimmed down strategic main WRU board based on director skill-sets in business as well as rugby. 

Last weekend’s Welsh derbies in the Guinness Pro14 attracted attendances that could best be described as modest. Geraint Powell traces the decline in crowds and says the problems are deep-rooted. The issue of crowds at the regions – or, rather, the consistent lack thereof – has returned towards the top of the domestic rugby agenda. Even before the “Welsh derby” matches, Brendan Gallagher of The Rugby Paper, and a 1980s veteran of the Western Mail Championship/Whitbread Merit Table circuit from his time with the South Wales Echo, had tweeted about how big rugby spectator bases had been “brazenly abandoned” and “never returned” in South Wales.

Steve Tandy admits he was surprised at Sam Cross’ call-up by Wales, but still believes the 15-a-side novice can help Warren Gatland’s side play a more expansive game. The Olympic Games sevens silver medalist’s shock selection for the Under Armour Series next month was the pinnacle of a wonderful week for the 25-year-old flanker. It came only three days after his Ospreys debut, which was his first professional game of 15-a-side rugby. “As far as weeks go, this is the best I have ever had. I’m excited, surprised, but I just can’t wait to get started,” said Cross.

Alun Wyn Jones has been hailed as a father figure at the Ospreys after guiding the region towards ending their seven-match losing streak. The Wales captain was given rich praise by his grateful coach Steve Tandy after the second row’s man-of-the-match performance in his team’s 28-14 victory over the Dragons on Friday night. The Ospreys scored four tries to earn a Guinness Pro14 bonus point as the Dragons’ limitations were exposed in spite of a defiant defensive showing.

Bernard Jackman is convinced the Dragons can do without home comforts, having been to Moscow and returned with more than tourist snaps of Red Square. The Dragons coach has dumped one unwanted record – an 18-month losing streak on their European travels – when the region beat Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup last week. Now, he turns to ridding the Dragons of another painful losing stretch. When they visit the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Friday night it will be 30 matches since they last won away from home in the Guinness Pro14, a sequence that goes way back to March 2015.

Dan Biggar learned a lot from playing with Gavin Henson when he launched his career at the Ospreys and now the Wales and Lions star can’t wait to play against him. Henson is set to return to the Liberty Stadium with the Dragons for Friday night’s Guinness PRO14 derby and Biggar knows exactly what sort of threat the double Grand Slammer can pose. “Gavin was here for my first year at the Ospreys and the thing I took most from him was the confidence he had. He would always back himself and believe he was right,” said Biggar.

Scott Baldwin has admitted he could have lost his hand, his career, and the chance to play with his young son as a result of stupidly smoothing a lion in a South African safari park. The 29-year-old Wales hooker finally returned to action with the Ospreys in last weekend’s Champions Cup defeat at Saracens after missing three matches and having to undergo four operations. In his first press conference since the incident in Bloemfontein he talked about how the severity of what happened to him only really hit home last week.

Steve Tandy has told his Ospreys they have to beat the Dragons on Friday before they can talk about genuine recovery. The head coach took satisfaction from his team’s double bonus point defeat at Saracens in the European Champions Cup, but the 36-34 scoreline was still that – a defeat. That is now seven in succession for the Ospreys and despite the massive improvement in standards at the home of the European champions, they have lost 10 out of the 11 matches they have played when pre-season fixtures are added in.

Rhys Webb has said he will not be withdrawing from his decision to join Toulon next season, meaning Wales will not be picking him. That has produced plenty of debate, but Geraint Powell argues the outpouring of anger only serves to show how divided the country has become between those who support only Wales and those who care for the regions. Whilst it is a matter of personal sadness for me – someone who has been called an “arch-regionalist” or more accurately an “arch-aligner” enough times on social media – few will have been surprised by some of the negative reaction against the revised criteria to the Welsh Rugby Union’s Senior Player Selection Policy (the “WRU SPSP”, the so-called, but terribly misnamed, “Gatland’s Law”). There is a brutal truth revealed by the reaction to this policy revision, perhaps fuelled by Rhys Webb being caught through his vague and most definitely in need of clarification agreement with Toulon, that many rugby fans in Wales care passionately about the Welsh national team and care very little for their professional region or any others.

What odds on an Ospreys win at Saracens this weekend? It’s a bit of a long-shot according to most bookies. On their return to the Champions Cup this season the Welsh region head to London to face the reigning champions in a game in which the home side are 1/25 on to win and you can get 20/1 on an Ospreys triumph.

The threat to Rhys Webb’s international future is self-defeating and was entirely avoidable, says Robin Davey. If the new national selection policy was well-intended, it has been poorly targeted at a player who deserved better. Why has Welsh rugby shot itself in the foot again when there was absolutely no need? Why have the powers that be decided to score an own goal, to mix my sports, by making an example of Rhys Webb?