On This Day in 2013, George North lifts Israel Folau on his shoulders

On This Day in 2013, George North lifts Israel Folau on his shoulders

Seven Years ago to the day, British and Irish Lions star George North shocked the rugby world when hoisted Australian giant Israel Folau over his shoulder and carried him backwards.

North brought the Melbourne crowd to its feet midway through the second half of the second test of the series which saw the Lions suffer a narrow 16-15 defeat as he grappled with Folau, slung him over his shoulder and powered forward whilst still holding on to the ball.

In the week after the game, North admitted he is still unsure quite how he managed to pull off the remarkable feat.


"People keep sending me pictures of that 'wrestling' moment when I picked up Israel Folau - the truth is I still don’t really know what I did," he said in his newspaper column for the Daily Mail.

"I caught the ball and he was right on top of me so we grappled as I tried to stay on my feet to buy time before support arrived. I pushed off him, ducked under his arm and ran towards him and he came up with me. After that I didn’t know how to put him down because I was the one with the ball!"


 
"When the cavalry arrived I ended up being ‘tombstoned’ right on my head like a wrestling move. I got up with a bit of a sore neck. It was one of those random things – it isn’t the most efficient way of going forwards."
 
 
Christian Leali'ifano's cool head lead the Wallabies to victory setting a series decider the next weekend with the Wallaby ace converting Adam Ashley-Cooper's 75th-minute try. Leigh Halfpenny missed a penalty from halfway with the game's final kick and left the pitch distraught but the Lions would get their revenge a week later after the narrow 16-15 defeat. 
 

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