In the past North has been in Welsh sides who have gone on tour in the summer without a warm-up match – and paid the price. But even though the game against Eddie Jones’ Grand Slammers ended in a 27-13 loss, the Welsh wing feels happier for the run out.
“We needed the match against England, even though it wasn’t the perfect game. From a playing point of view, and from the way we want to play, we knew we had to up our game speed and our tempo,” said North.
“We went out there on the back of two weeks of hard training and I think that showed. We fronted up for a large portion of the game, but then we just lost it towards the end.
“But we needed that to prepare ourselves for the challenge ahead. New Zealand are the world champions, there is no way of getting around that, and you can’t ignore the success they’ve had over the last few years and the style they play.
“They are the world’s best, but we just have to go in with the mindset that it is 15 v 15. If we come out on top man-for-man then the result will go our way.
“We’ll have to make sure that we are on our mettle and ready for the challenge because we know that anything less than our best will mean we don’t get the result we want.”
North was just 18 when he first faced the All Blacks in Cardiff in 2010 and this weekend’s game at Eden Park could be the first of six assignments against the world champions in the space of a year if he gets picked for another tour with the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
That means a series of possible head-to-head clashes with Julian Savea for the title of the world’s best wing. North has scored 29 tries in 64 Tests for Wales and the Lions, while the 25-year-old Savea has amassed 38 in 41 internationals for the All Blacks.
“Savea is a massive part of their team and he presents massive challenges, as does the whole of their back line. It will be good to see where we are at the end of it,” added North.
“We want to beat the best team in the world – that is that we are aspiring to do. It is a huge task, we all know that, especially after what has been a long season.
“Playing against the World champions at home is always going to be a massive task and having a three Test series in such a short period is tough. But we are all ready for it and looking forward to getting started.”
As well as the warm-up match against England, North also believes the fact Wales arrived in New Zealand 10 days ahead of the first Test has been hugely beneficial.
“We needed this time to come over and get rid of the jet lag, which has been horrendous for a few of the boys. It has given us a chance to get really settled and to turn our minds to the first Test on Saturday,” he said.
