Thursday 29 January 2015 14:46, UK
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has warned winger George North he is not guaranteed selection for the RBS Six Nations opener against England.
North missed the 12-6 victory over South Africa last autumn with concussion and Gatland insists it will be hard to drop his replacement Liam Williams for the visit of Stuart Lancaster's men to Cardiff on February 6.
Gatland is blessed with terrific back-three options as he also has British and Irish Lions Leigh Halfpenny and Alex Cuthbert at his disposal and he says there are no guarantees North will force his way back into the starting line-up.
"We will see how training goes, but if you are a player who has won against South Africa and started the game it's sometimes difficult to be dropped,” Gatland said.
"We won't sit down as a coaching team until next Monday or Tuesday and start talking about a team.
"It's early in the week and we will see how players front up. It's a nice position for us to be in and we have options."
Gatland feels North is not touching the ball enough in games and believes the 22-year-old spends more time on the periphery than his considerable talent should allow.
"Having spoken to (Northampton assistant coach) Alex King, Northampton have the same issues with George about touching the ball more," Gatland said.
"We want to see more touches and have the ball in his hands. When he does that he is dangerous and makes some metres for us.”
England will arrive at the Millennium Stadium with a host of injuries that has accounted for six of their first choice starting XV - Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Ben Morgan, Tom Wood, Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi.
Gatland, however, insists they remain formidable opponents even with a full treatment room.
"England have a huge amount of strength in depth in a lot of positions. It does not matter what team they put out," Gatland said.
"They are going to be strong and we saw that last summer where they were able to put out a different team against the All Blacks and did exceptionally well.
“So we are expecting a really strong side.”
