Six Nations: England can battle back, insists George North

P64 George North

19 March 2013

George North says England will bounce back from the defeat that shattered their Grand Slam hopes if they follow Wales’s lead.

Rob Howley’s men were largely written off after a run of eight straight defeats culminated in a home loss against Ireland in the Six Nations opener but silenced their critics with four victories in a row, climaxing in Saturday’s emphatic 30-3 success at the Millennium Stadium.

North knows how low England are feeling but his own experience with Wales shows problems can be overcome. “It’s a tough few months when you go from being in with the chance of a Grand Slam to losing it and losing quite convincingly,” said the 20-year-old winger.

“It’s a hard place. I spoke to some of their boys after and it was gutting for them because they were going for everything and then lost everything.

“We lost in the autumn series and the summer tour by very small margins and that just put a lot of pressure on the team when it comes to winning. We stayed strong as a unit and came through.”

Two tries from Wales’s other winger, Alex Cuthbert, condemned England to their biggest defeat under Stuart Lancaster, a far cry from the home side’s opening match of the tournament when hopes of back-to-back Grand Slams were effectively over by half-time as they trailed Ireland 23-3.

“England will have to do what we did after Ireland, stick together, work together as a unit and push on to the next game,” said North.

“Obviously it wasn’t the best start to the Six Nations when we lost to Ireland but we shut everything out and worked hard and it showed when we came away with the win against France in the next game. Going there is really tough.”

France went into that match on the back of their shock defeat to Italy but held Wales 6-6 in Paris until North claimed the only try of the game in a 16-6 victory. That sparked a one-man pitch invasion by his dad, John, earning North Snr a rebuke from wife, Jan.

The wing combination of North and Cuthbert claimed more tries (one and four) and beat more defenders (14 each) than any other partnership in the tournament. North weighs 16st 5lb and Cuthbert 17st so they bring a real physical presence to their game and Lions head coach Warren Gatland is likely to utilise that power on the tour of Australia this summer.

Naturally, North backs his Welsh team-mates for selection but he knows competition for places will be fierce.

“Anyone who goes on that tour will be battle hardened because they’ve gone through a tough Six Nations and tough season with their clubs,” added North. “The past few games, especially the last two weekends, has made selection difficult, because you’ve had 30 players put their hands up in one go.

“I’m obviously going to back the Welsh because I’m a Welsh boy through and through but it’s a tough one to say. I don’t want to jinx anyone.”

Eight of the Welsh XV who beat England are under 25 and North says the young squad have one eye on World Cup triumph when the tournament comes to England in 2015.

“I think the only way is up for us now,” said North. “We’ve shown in the past that everyone has their dips in form but I think as a squad you only get stronger. We’ve had the experiences of the lows and the highs, all the players know each other well and I think that puts us in stead for the future.

“The World Cup’s a bit far ahead but obviously we want to focus on it.

“At the moment we just want to enjoy the Six Nations but we’re going to push on for the World Cup.”

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