Williams will call time on eleven years on the International stage against the Wallabies and North, who is embarking on his second International season, has revealed that Williams has had a big influence on his career.
“Shane is a great ambassador for rugby and for the enjoyment of the game,” said North.
“For the last five or six years I have looked at the way he plays and the passion he shows for his country and its something I admire and look forward to taking on in my career.
“He was the first guy you would see when you turned the television on because he was always the guy on the ball doing something special.
“The excitement the whole crowd had when he was on the ball was something that inspired me when I was younger to pick up a ball, run around and try to feel that excitement with him.
“We are at opposite ends of the scale – short and tall, light and heavy – but there are so many parts of his game I admire.
“His agility on the ball, his timing, his awareness and his general work-rate around the park. For me, they are qualities I want to bring into my game more.”
“Even though Shane is a legend of Welsh rugby and we are there to celebrate him, when the weekend comes it is game day,
“I’m sure Shane will be one of the boys stepping up to deliver because he will want the team to play well in his last game. The whole team will want to do well for Shane as well.
“Losing to Australia was a bit of a sour note to end the World Cup on and the boys are now looking forward to this challenge.
“We have looked at them this week and looked at that game. It is about fuelling the revenge and hopefully we can get back at them on home soil.
“We have to be more dominant in the contact area. We did that for most of the World Cup, but we were down on that for the Australia game, perhaps because of the emotions or certain players missing.”
