George North

The previous record holder was Tom Pearson, who was aged 18 years, 238 days when he scored against England in 1891.

He also became the youngest player ever to have scored two tries against a major rugby nation, whether on his debut or not.

Defeat to Ireland on the opening weekend meant Wales needed a seven-point margin of victory against England in their final match to claim the title; although North failed to score, they ended up winning 30–3 and retained the title for the first time since 1979.

George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for United Rugby Championship club Ospreys.

Born in England, he represents Wales at international level after qualifying on ancestry grounds.

He began his professional career with the Scarlets before moving to England to play with the Northampton Saints.

Notably, he made Welsh rugby history by being the youngest player to score a try on debut at the age of 18.

North also has established himself as one of the top try-scorers at test level, holding the record for the most tries scored by an active international player.

North was born in 1992 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England.

His father is English from Yorkshire and his Welsh mother is from Anglesey.

The family moved to Anglesey when he was aged two and he is a fluent Welsh language speaker.

North was educated at Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern on Anglesey and later at Llandovery College.

North played as a junior for Llangefni, Pwllheli, Rhyl and Gogledd Cymru under-16s.

Before his international call-up, North had played six matches for the Scarlets first team, a record restricted by an injury.

The previous record holder was James O'Connor of Australia, who was aged 18 years, 343 days when he scored a hat-trick against Italy in 2009.

After an impressive start to the 2010 season, in October 2010, he was selected to the 33-man squad for the Autumn international series.

On 11 November 2010, North was named in the Wales team to face South Africa on 13 November, making him the joint-third youngest player to represent Wales behind Tom Prydie and Norman Biggs and equal to Evan Williams.

North made an impressive start to his international career on 13 November 2010 in a match against the reigning world champions, by scoring two tries for Wales as they lost to South Africa 29–25 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

He set a number of Welsh and international records in the match:

North, aged 18 years, 218 days, became the youngest player ever to score a try in his debut for Wales.

(Taylor Paris of Canada turned 18 in October 2010 and scored two tries in his second appearance against Spain on the same day as North's debut, but Spain is also not considered a major rugby nation, although they have qualified for one World Cup.)

Following his international debut at the 2010 end-of-year tests, North soon became a regular fixture for Wales in their starting XV.

He was not picked to play for Wales for most of the 2011 Six Nations as coach Warren Gatland generally opted for more experienced wingers Shane Williams and Morgan Stoddart, however during the final weekend of the tournament North was given his opportunity to start on the left wing against France, as Williams was not picked to play and Stoddart was on the replacements bench.

After the World Cup, North continued in his place as a regular starter for Wales.

He scored a late try as Wales beat Ireland 23–21 in the opening game of the 2012 Six Nations, and he went on to start all four of the remaining matches as Wales claimed their first Grand Slam since 2008.

On 9 April 2013 it was confirmed that North would sign for Northampton Saints in the English Premiership for a reported fee of over £200,000.

This announcement followed the Welsh Rugby Union claiming that Scarlets had attempted to sell North to French clubs, which had been rejected.

He scored his first Northampton Saints try against Sale Sharks after some excellent work by Jamie Elliott to make the score 12–0 in a game that finished 33–14 to Northampton.

He scored his first Heineken Cup try for Saints on 14 December against Leinster Rugby.

He started as Northampton beat Saracens to win the Premiership final.

He then played in every minute of the 2013 Six Nations, scoring the only try of the game as Wales won their first match away to France since 2005.

North competed for Wales during the 2014 Six Nations, and started all five matches, including a switch to outside centre against France, with Wales hoping that North's size and strength would make him an adequate opponent against the 19-stone frame of Mathieu Bastareaud, who was starting in the same position for Les Bleus.

The plan worked, as Wales won 27–6, with North scoring a try after 5 minutes of play.

North played four of Wales' five games during the 2015 Six Nations, only missing the match against Scotland in the second round due to a concussion he suffered against England the week before.

At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, North played in all but one of Wales' pool matches, rested for the opening match against the bottom side in the group, Uruguay.

North scored his 150th point for Saints with a try against Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership on 30 September 2016.

North was instrumental in Saints securing a European Rugby Champions Cup place for the 2017–18 season as the side beat both Connacht Rugby and Stade Francais in the European Champions Cup play-off games to claim the final spot in the competition for the following season.

On 22 November 2017, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that it had signed North to a National Dual Contract, with the WRU funding 60% and a Welsh region funding the remainder, that would take effect upon the expiry of North's contract with Northampton Saints at the end of the 2017–18 season.

At the time of announcement, it had not yet been determined which of Wales' four Pro14 sides North would join.

On 25 April 2018, the WRU announced that North would join the Ospreys effective with the 2018–19 season.