Shane Williams: So good to see mighty George back among tries

Watching Wales win is great but seeing George North in that sort of form is even better.
George gave everyone a reminder of just what makes him such an exciting player.
His try was just sensational and summed up everything the big fella is all about – pace and power.
He picked a great angle for the switch with Dan Biggar and wrong-footed Scotland‘s entire defence. Once he had slipped past Greig Laidlaw’s first tackle there was simply no stopping him.
It ended a barren run of five games without a try for North after going through the entire World Cup without a score. In many ways, not getting North in positions like that was one of the reasons why Wales didn’t get past the quarter-finals. But it proved a match-winner here against Scotland.
North lived up to the old saying that while form is temporary, class is permanent and he looked dangerous all game, especially in the second half.
When he is getting space and making breaks, there really aren’t many better wings in the world.
A winger’s job at the end of the day is to finish off the chances the rest of the team create. And just like a striker in football, there’s nothing like tries to give you confidence.
Everyone goes through barren spells. Goodness knows I went through enough during my career.
But the most important thing is to simply keep going. You cannot let your head drop or otherwise your days in the team are numbered. That’s something perhaps we saw with Alex Cuthbert.
You have to keep working hard, putting yourself in positions to get the ball and eventually one of your shots will come off.
North was one of many positives for Wales even in a scrappy performance.
Jamie Roberts was outstanding once again in defence, just as he was in Dublin a week earlier. I felt that tackle on Blair Cowan all the way back in the bar where I was watching the game.
Alun Wyn Jones gave yet another tireless display. He defended well, secured plenty of possession and even stole a couple of Scottish lineouts.
The lineout has traditionally been a real strength of Scotland’s so to put the sort of pressure on them as Jones and Luke Charteris did was crucial.
Warren Gatland said this week that he doubted any of Wales’ players have been improved from playing in France.
I don’t necessarily agree with that and Charteris would certainly be one exception. He has been outstanding for Wales for the last four years and was so again against Scotland.
He won all his lineout ball, was a real pain in the backside for the Scots and will be so useful for Wales over the next fortnight in planning for France.
He has to go back to Racing tomorrow but will return with the low-down on plenty of new faces in the French side.
France gave a similar display as Wales. There was nothing particularly flash but they improved as the game went on and you could see them getting the winner.
The game in two weeks is going to be massive for both sides and potentially both team’s ambitions to win the Six Nations title will be on the line.
There is plenty to work on for Wales. The scrum was again pretty solid though it was thanks to the cleaning up work of Taulupe Faletau that Jamie Roberts scored his try that helped turn the game.
That was after a wonderful break by Tom James who was unlucky not to score a solo try of his own.
Scotland certainly made life difficult at the breakdown and in the first half Wales did not deal with the threat around the fringes of Greig Laidlaw. Wales are also probably fortunate that John Barclay didn’t spot Stuart Hogg on his shoulder when he caught Wales on the back-foot otherwise Hogg would have been clear.
But when it comes to the Six Nations the only thing that counts is a win.  Nothing else matters.
Of course we want to see flowing rugby and plenty of tries. But right now, there are no bonus points for scoring four tries or losing by less than seven so the only thing that registers on the table is the ‘W’.
Saying that, it’s a real shame that Wales switched off for a moment at the end to allow Duncan Taylor to score, just in case points-difference does become an issue in the final week.
Wales traditionally get a lot better as they progress through campaigns and there were improvements from Dublin. But they will have to step up again against France who have some monsters up front.
It was great to see Dan Biggar come through the match unscathed. I know just what a consummate professional Dan is and he will have done everything in his power to be fit to play against Scotland.
Having waited for a while to get his hands on that number ten jersey, there was no way he was going to give it up without a fight.
Wales’ real strength right now is the bench. When you’ve got guys like Gethin Jenkins, Dan Lydiate and Rhys Priestland capable of coming into a game to steer the ship – that’s a real luxury for Warren Gatland.