George North suffers another setback as uncertainty surrounds Alun Wyn Jones

George North has undergone a setback as he seeks to battle back from the injury that has sidelined him for close on 12 months.

The 102-cap Wales international damaged anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee while playing for the Ospreys against Cardiff last April. His region had hoped he would have been able to return for their United Rugby Championship clash with Zebre on March 6.

But his comeback has been delayed, with North currently at home rather than in South Africa, where the Ospreys are playing the Lions and Stormers during a short tour.

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“He’s not fully training yet,” revealed head coach Toby Booth. “The last five percent is always the hardest, and he wasn’t quite right.

“We don’t think he’s too far away. But he’s a big man and his knee will respond differently from those of others with the same injury. Everyone’s different.

“We are governed by the symptoms once he trains. We need to make sure we have control of that, because with all of our players we want them back not just for a week but for good. We need to make sure we are in a position of having healthy players who stay fit.”

After their games with the Lions and the Stormers, the Ospreys will head into derby matches against Cardiff, the Scarlets and the Dragons.

Injury recoveries are not a precise science, but Booth’s side would hope North would feature at some point during the regional jousts. “That’s the aim,” said the coach. “We expected him for the Zebre game but there’s been a couple of setbacks in terms of how his knee has reacted to training. We don’t think they are serious setbacks, but you have to build endurance into an injury, so