Wales 2010–2013 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 , became the youngest player ever to score a try in his debut for Wales. 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. 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. (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.) at the
2011 Rugby 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. 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. 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.
2014–2017 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. Although North failed to score, Wales recorded wins against Uruguay, England and Fiji, but defeat to Australia in the final pool match, in which North started at outside centre, meant they finished second in the pool and faced South Africa in the quarter-final at
Twickenham. North returned to his usual position on the wing and played the full 80 minutes, but again failed to score and Wales ended up losing 23–19. North played for Wales during the
2016 Six Nations, scoring tries against Scotland, France, England and Italy. The winger was selected in the Wales squad for the
Autumn Internationals and after Premiership Rugby decided to allow Welsh players to be selected for the opening test on 5 November 2016, despite that falling outside the designated International window, earned his 63rd cap for Wales against
Australia on that day. After heavy criticism from his coaches and the media in 2017, North scored three tries in the 2017 Six Nations, one against Italy on 5 February and a double against Ireland on 10 March, becoming the joint-highest try scorer of the tournament with seven other players. His two tries against Ireland bought his career tally to 32, making him the fourth highest try scorer in Welsh history. After New Zealand winger
Julian Savea was dropped from the team for the
2017 Rugby Championship, this made North the highest try scored of all currently active Tier 1 international players.
2018–2024 After missing the 2017 end-of-year tests due to injury, North was included in the Welsh squad for the
2018 Six Nations Championship. North did not play in the first week of the competition and returned from injury to play against England on 10 February 2018. Due to stiff competition for a starting place in the competition, North replaced
Rhys Patchell off the bench against England with Wales losing 6–12. North was used as a replacement again in the second round of the competition before gaining his starting spot on the right wing back for the final two. North's performance against Italy on 11 March 2018 produced his only two tries of the 2018 Six Nations and allowed Wales to beat Italy 38–14. North's two tries in the 2018 Six Nations bought his career tally to 34. He then featured in all three tests of Wales' summer tour, scoring a try in the first test against
Argentina in
San Juan, and three of the four autumn internationals, scoring his 36th test try against
Scotland and performing well against both Australia and South Africa. North's impressive return to form following his move back to Wales meant that he was an automatic choice for Wales'
2019 Six Nations Championship squad, and the starting XV against France. Despite a sloppy first half performance that allowed
Yoann Huget to score in the left corner, North gave one of his best recent performances in the second half, scoring two tries and winning the Man of the Match award. North became a grand slam champion for the second time in his career, in the 2019 Six Nations, as they beat Ireland 25–7 in Cardiff. North was part of the Wales squad for the
2019 Rugby World Cup, scoring a try in the 76th minute of their match against
Georgia. He underwent a positional shift under new Wales coach
Wayne Pivac, moving to outside centre. North found success in this position, scoring against Ireland in Wales' first match of the
2021 Six Nations Championship. North became the youngest player to earn 100 caps for Wales in the match against England on 27 February 2021. North currently has the
most tries in international rugby for an active player. He is the second highest all time try scorer for Wales behind
Shane Williams. He retired from Test rugby in 2024.
2011 Rugby World Cup After
Morgan Stoddart suffered a broken leg during a World Cup warm-up match against England, North was called up as a first-choice winger for Wales for the
2011 Rugby World Cup held in
New Zealand. He started on the left wing for Wales' first
Pool D match against South Africa, which they narrowly lost by a score of 17–16 against the reigning world champions. North again started on the wing against
Samoa and then came on as a replacement in the 55th minute against
Namibia, scoring two tries in the latter. He then started against
Fiji, scoring a try. North started on the right wing in Wales' 22–10 win over
Ireland in their quarter-final. They went on to face France in the semi-finals, but lost 9–8, with North again on the right wing.
British and Irish Lions 2013–2017 He was named as part of the Lions squad for the
2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. On 22 June in Brisbane, North scored the first Lions try vs Australia; a run from inside his own 10-metre line beating four players. However, North's celebration was slightly over exuberant and he later apologised, saying he felt 'horrendous' after making a triumphant gesture towards
Will Genia. The Lions went on to win the First Test 23–21. On 29 June 2013, North carried out a 'fireman's lift' manoeuvre on Australia's
Israel Folau while running with the ball in the second test between the Lions and Australia in Melbourne. On 6 July 2013, in Sydney, North scored his 14th international try and his second Lions Test try as the Lions sealed a 2–1 series win over Australia with a 41–16 victory. North was selected by the
British & Irish Lions for their
tour of New Zealand, alongside his Northampton team-mate
Courtney Lawes. North played in three fixtures on the tour but was sent home early with fellow injured back
Robbie Henshaw after tearing his hamstring. After suffering an ACL injury in April 2021, North was ruled out of the
2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa. == Personal life ==