North faces fitness tests ahead of QF
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George North will hope to be fit for Northampton's quarterfinal clash with Clermont, after he was carried off on a stretcher at the weekend with a head knock in Saints' 52-30 Premiership triumph over Wasps.
While the victory extended Saints' nine points lead at the top of the table as they chase a second successive English title, it came at a high price with North going off after catching the leg of Wasps No.8 Nathan Hughes.
Hughes was sent-off by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys after the TMO studied replays of the incident.
He will now miss his side's trip to Stade Felix Mayol to face reigning European champions Toulon – unless he can successfully appeal the decision.
North has already missed two Internationals this season because of head injuries, and Saints will now need to monitor his recovery carefully this week as he undergoes the return to play concussion protocols.
"I think the opposition have to be very careful once the try has been scored," said the Northampton Director of Rugby, Jim Mallinder.
"It was reckless coming in with the knee, and some serious consequences happened because of that.
"George clearly took a bang straight to the head, but he came round and he sat up in the changing room and managed to have a little sing-song.
"He is okay and he was up and walking about – but it's a knock to his head, which is not good.
"We will look after him and we will make sure that he comes back when he is right.
"Hopefully, he'll be okay next weekend."
The Wasps Director of Rugby, Dai Young, claimed Hughes had not intended to make contact with the Northampton wing and was unhappy at the decision to give his player a red card.
"First and foremost, I hope that George is all right ," Young said after the game.
"Nathan has gone looking for him to make sure he is okay.
"He's not that type of person. Obviously, when you slow anything down in slow-motion, things look a little bit worse than they were.
"But once the crowd gets on a referee's back, and it was a young referee, there is only one decision that is going to happen.
"We felt it was a bit harsh."
Saints moved 13 points clear at the top of the table thanks to their latest win, although, at one stage, Wasps were 12 points clear.
The sending off then changed things and not even a hat-trick of tries from Wasps' wing Christian Wade could save them.
Saints flyhalf Stephen Myler ended with 17 points and overtook Paul Grayson as the club's leading points scorer in the Premiership
Source: @epcrugby
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