Following report by Rob Griffiths of the Daily Post. GEORGE NORTH is confident Wales can cause an upset and return from Australia with a first series victory Down Under since 1969.
Wales play a three Test tour against the Wallabies starting on June 9, and while North, who hails from Anglesey, is well aware of the size of the task facing the Grand Slam-winners, he believes they should travel without any fear.
Australia currently stand second in the IRB rankings behind world champions New Zealand, while Wales sit in fifth place just behind England.
There is added incentive this calendar year with the top four in December making up the four seeded teams for the 2015 World Cup draw.
That won’t have any bearing on the players’ psyche, who instead are focusing on claiming a southern hemisphere scalp.
“A three-Test tour is going to be hard anyway, but to go away to Australia is going to make is especially hard isn’t it?” said North, who played youth rugby with Pwllheli, Llangefni and Rhyl.
“But (given) the confidence the boys are playing with now on the back of the Six Nations success, it is something we are looking forward to and we are hoping to cause an upset.
“(With) the quality of the players we have now, I think we have a really good chance. “We are all working hard, building up to the Baa-baas and then the first Test soon after that, so it is going to be really exciting. It is another challenge for us and something we want to put our stamp on.
“It’s a case of the quality and the age of the players and also the strength in depth in the squad – something that not many countries have and that is one of our ‘Brucie Bonuses’, the fact that we have got these young players coming through.
“A lot of people are always saying that we play with no fear, but I think it is more a case that we don’t know any other way to play.”
North acknowledges Wales are clearly underdogs for the tour to Australia, but believes Warren Gatland’s Grand Slam- winners are ready to prove their Six Nations success was no flash in the pan.
He added: “I think we have every right to have a bit of confidence about us, we are playing a good brand of rugby right now and I think we are showing that.
“Australia also play a good brand of running rugby which is good, and I think a three-test tour is going to be very hard.
“Obviously the stat is there that we haven’t won a series there since 1969, or whatever, it’s something we are trying to stop and show that we are ready to play and win in both the Six Nations and Down Under.”
Wales warm-up for their tour Down Under next Saturday when they host a star-studded Barbarians outfit at the Millennium Stadium.
Baa-baas matches are usually seen as exhibition exercises, however, with a tour to Australia following quickly in its wake, North is confident the match is the perfect preparation for Robbie Dean’s side.
“To be fair we know it is a touring invitational side, but it’s still a hell of side they have picked,” added North.
“But I think leading up to a tour to Australia you would want as tough as game as possible.”
The match against the famous Black and Whites could see North line up opposite mentor Shane Williams in what is likely to be the little magician’s last-ever competitive game of rugby before he officially retires.
While North has a considerable size and weight advantage over Williams, he is not relishing the task of marking his former international team-mate.
“Erm, not really, no,” said North, when asked if he was looking forward to facing off against Williams.
“Playing against him is always a nightmare. Obviously I’ve played against him a number of times for the Scarlets and you’ve always got to keep your wits about you whenever he is on the field otherwise he can make you look very silly.
“It’s a challenge and I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m sure if you asked any winger if there was another winger who they would not want to play against Shane’s would be one of the first names to come up.
“He is still world-class now, even though he is retiring, so I think I’ve drawn the short straw to mark him.
“I think everyone’s plan when they are up against Shane is getting to him early, stopping him getting a head of steam up and having a crack at him as early as possible.”
GEORGE NORTH is supporting NatWest RugbyForce, the community volunteer programme that is improving club facilities.
To see if your club will be participating in the NatWest RugbyForce Weekend on June 2 and 3 June, visit natwest.com/rugbyforce.
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