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Page last updated at 07:29 GMT, Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Wales wing George North must 'keep feet on ground'

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North eager to build on debut

Wales coach Warren Gatland says that new Wales wing George North must not be distracted by his sudden fame.

The Scarlet, 18, enjoyed a sensational debut in Saturday's 29-25 loss to South Africa in Cardiff, scoring two tries.

Gatland has changed almost two-thirds of his starting line-up to face Fiji on Friday but North keeps his place.

"We're very pleased with him, we've got to make sure we look after him... the thing for George now is to keep his feet on the ground," Gatland said.

"Obviously there's going to be a lot of people demanding and wanting to do interviews with him.

"I had a good chat to him about this and said 'your bread and butter is about training and performing', and all the... bits and pieces will come as long as he keeps performing on the field.

"We've seen in the past it's easy for players to get distracted by the requests from outside and doing autographs, opening stuff, getting paid for doing little bits and pieces.

"At the end of the day it can sometimes affect their performance and he's aware of that, and hopefully he'll keep level-headed and... let the rugby do the talking.

"The big-money contracts will come later, the boot deals, all that sort of stuff will take care of itself as long as he keeps doing what he's doing."

Wales spurned me - Fiji's Manu

The 6ft 4in Scarlets powerhouse from Anglesey started his international career at the deep end, lining up against world-class wing Bryan Habana - who started the afternoon needing just one try to become South Africa's leading try scorer.

Instead it was North who caught the eye with two tries on debut, the first coming off his wing to race through the Springboks midfield before gathering a pin-point Stephen Jones cross-kick to go over in the corner.

"For a debut it's probably one of the best I've ever seen," Gatland said.

"For him to play against one of the best players in the world [Habana] and score two tries was absolutely fantastic.

"Sunday was a bit of a reality check for him, because he's played in the Millennium Stadium in front of the biggest crowd he's ever played in front of, scored two tries and had a fabulous debut, then he's driven home to north Wales and his car's broken down!"

After such a fine debut - and with fellow wing Shane Williams out for up to 10 weeks with a dislocated shoulder suffered against the Springboks - North keeps his place against Fiji, with Newport Gwent Dragons' Aled Brew filling the other wing berth.

"We were tempted to rest him this week but I felt he just wanted to get out there and play, it would be really nice after a debut to get a win and get that confidence within the squad - and hopefully we can do that on Friday night," Gatland added.



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see also
Wales now 'better' than Slam side
16 Nov 10 |  Welsh
Jones returns as Wales captain
18 Nov 10 |  Welsh
Wales spurned me - Fiji's Manu
16 Nov 10 |  Welsh
Williams injury concern deepens
18 Nov 10 |  Welsh
North can be new Bevan - Davies
15 Nov 10 |  Welsh
Fire and flair: Fijian rugby
29 Sep 06 |  Rugby Union
Wales v Fiji: Full record
29 Sep 06 |  Rugby Union
Wales' rugby fixtures
26 Jun 07 |  Welsh
Wales rugby results archive
15 Oct 03 |  Welsh


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