Will George North smash the Welsh caps AND tries record?

Or will his body give up due to his prolonged exposure to international rugby?

Potentially he has time on his side to do this. Obviously there are many factors that could hamper this mainly being form and injury. His form isn't amazing of late but he's doing a Shane Williams so far and has been undroppable for a long time. I think he will go onto smash records in many areas.

Example

Gavin Henson
Age 31
Caps 33
1 lions tour
International career so far - 12 years and counting

George North
Age 21
Caps 31
Tries 12
1 world cup
1 lions tour
International career so far - 2 years 7 months

Burst onto the scene 2 years ago but hasn't quite lived up to the hype of his debut games. Only one try v France in the 6 nations? He's a talented lad, and a total beast to boot, no doubt. Interesting season at the Saints next season for him...

I agree breadvan, dont get me wrong he is a quality player but has been very quiet especially in the latter half of this season for the scarlets....makes you wonder how much the speculation of his saints move got to him?

He will have to up his game to catch Shane's 50+ tries in 80+ tests

He could break the cap record, but with injuries it could be any of the Welsh young players - Faletau doesn't miss many games for example, Halfpenny hasn't missed a game for ages.

Cuthbert is more likely to break records - 18 appearances, 9 tries.

Since North will be at Saints, Mallinder willl likely try to turn him into a part time back row player, like he does with everyone else. Then his overall game will suffer, then he will be made captain and lash out at Wayne Barnes, then he will be suspended, then his rep will be in tatters, and he eventually moves to France. Unless, of course, Mallinder replaces Gatland after the RWC and can do the whole thing for Wales, in which case North will be made into a part time back row player, then...........

Try scoring doesn't follow a pattern, how many tries did North have after ten tests? Nine I think, since then he hasn't found opportunities to score, so you can't take a payer who scored 10 tries in ten tests and then say if he plays 100 tests he is going to score 100 tries.

Bryan Habana is the perfect example of this.

He score 30 tries in 35 tests under Jake White, then only scored 10 tries in 40 odd tests under Pieter de Villiers, last year under Heyneke Meyer his try scoring form returned again. Last year he scored 7 tries in 9 tests.

So your try scoring success is very much dependant on the style of play and the coach.

Agree, Biltong. I think try scoring is extremely difficult to predict. Too many other influences, and you named a few of the biggies. I think this is one of the reasons why records last a long time. A couple of key injuries can kill try scoring opportunities. Doesn't mean he might not be a terrific scorer.

Habana is a great example.

Agree Doc, I like North, more so now that the hype has disappeared, I think when a players has such a great start to his career there is undue pressure on him to perform as well, which can often lead to that pressure curbing the players natural talent.

I heard the other day Julian Savea scored 12 tries last year in 9 tests, it will be interesting to see how he goes this year.

cuthbert summed it up for me when asked about his two tries against England . he said lucky for me it happened to come my side of the wing . north still a proven try scorer and i hate to say but so is ashton . both will come good again

Since North will be playing for my club, Saints, this season, I will have an up close view of North. Really looking to seeing him play.

To your point about scoring tries, Saints have historically been a forward oriented club. Will be interesting to see how he is used, and how frequently he gets on the score sheet.

When Ashton burst on to the scene he was being touted as England's saviour, the best try-scorer we've had for ages and undroppable. He had 9 tries in 9 tests but then poor form and his forgetting how to tackle has seen most England fans (myself included) clamouring for him to be dropped.

George North in my eyes has failed to live up to his considerable hype, something that's always nigh on impossible. He may not be scoring too many tries but he is still a top, top player. I for one am very happy to have him on the Lions tour!

Breadvan wrote: Burst onto the scene 2 years ago but hasn't quite lived up to the hype of his debut games. Only one try v France in the 6 nations? He's a talented lad, and a total beast to boot, no doubt. Interesting season at the Saints next season for him...

Really? I think he's excelled his hype. Two six nations championships before he's 21 with an integral role played in each. You couldn't ask for more Only Cuthbert's sublime form had taken some of the shine off North.

It's not like the Shane Williams days with only one decent wing.

I think other players played a more integral role in those two titles than gorgeous George. If he was running in trys for fun then he'd live up to his early hype but he is'nt, Cuthbert is. I think you'll see him improve at saints. They'll play him (injury free) more often than Scarlets did. Who knows tho...

I still stick to my opinion that George North is a far better winger, and all round rugby player than Cuthbert, and I do think that time will prove that. Cuthbert does have a nose for the line, however I have never seen him (that I remember) offload to another player instead of going it alone. I have a feeling that Cuthbert is just a bigger version of Thom James, fast and strong, but just a runner who can catch and carry a ball as opposed to a rugby player.

North has a decent eye for a gap, and does tend to try an utilise it. However his last few games for the Scarlets it was obvious either his heart wasn't in it, or he had some for of pre-lions stage fright. I hope that he can get over that and learn to tackle properly.

But of the two welsh wingers I think George will be around far longer and will have a far better record at the end of his career.