George North is relishing launching his second World Cup campaign on Saturday – an experience that he describes as rugby union’s “biggest honour.”
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The juggernaut wing was just 19 when he helped Wales reach the World Cup semi-finals in New Zealand four years ago. But he has gone on to win more than 50 caps – the youngest rugby union player to achieve that feat – and score 23 Test tries, which puts him fourth on Wales’ all-time list behind Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas and Ieuan Evans.
“For me, the World Cup is the biggest honour,” he said. “Whenever I put a Wales jersey on, I want to play my best, so there is no lack of effort. But any World Cup is the time you want to be shining, and obviously being so close to home this time it would be a good one to shine in.
“For me, 2011 was a massive learning curve. If I look back, it was just the fact that I was so young and so naive to the ways of international rugby at the time.
“I just had a few caps to my name, and it was just a massive learning curve as to what to do and getting my preparation right. I guess now it is a case of becoming more professional and knowing what is better for me on a week-toweek basis with a Test match on the Saturday. It has been about working out where I can be a pain.”
Wales’ coaching staff have been actively encouraging North to target more ball-in-hand time during games, and there is no doubt that he could cause havoc today if opportunities arise.
“Obviously, everyone says that the more touches you can have in a game, the more impact you can have, and no-one gets more frustrated when I don’t get any ball than myself,” he said. “I think the more Hallam (Amos), Liam (Williams) and I can get our hands on the ball, the quicker the tempo we can get and the better it will fall into our game plan.”
