George North: Easy call to drop Wales wing - coach Wayne Pivac

Wales coach Wayne Pivac said George North admitted he was below his best against France last weekend

Wayne Pivac says it was an "easy call" to drop George North for Wales' Six Nations finale with Scotland.

North was in line to make his 100th Test appearance on Saturday, with three appearances for the British and Irish Lions on top of his 96 Wales caps.

But the 28-year-old Ospreys wing has lost his place after Wales' friendly defeat by France last weekend.

"It was quite an easy call really," said head coach Pivac.

North has been replaced Liam Williams as one of six changes to the side that lost in Paris.

"I had a good chat with George the evening before we named the team," said Pivac.

"We had plenty of time to rethink it if we wanted to, but the fact of the matter is George was across it. He was the first to put his hand up and say he wasn't happy with that performance.

"We were all on the same page in selecting him, but not every selection comes off and on this particular occasion George didn't play his best game of rugby. It's as simple as that.

"Was it a hard decision to leave him out? No it wasn't.

"Will he have the ability to play his way back in? Yes he will because of what we do in training."

George North has scored 40 tries for Wales in 96 internationals

North was considered ready for international action despite his lack of game time after being sent off against the Dragons in the Pro14 on 23 August.

He was given a four-week ban for a dangerous tackle less than 15 minutes into the Ospreys' first game for more than five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The timing with the red card was unfortunate for George and you don't get every selection bang on every single time," Pivac said.

"The last form he showed for us was against England [in March], and that was the best performance I've seen from him for a while.

"We've been doing a lot of work with George both on the pitch and on the mental side of the game. He is in a very good space. With his fitness testing he got the opportunity to play last week.

"Some thought he might have had a club game, but we felt he was good to go. It turned out he wasn't as sharp or focused as he wanted to be and he freely admits that.

"We'll do more work with him in the training environment before we put him out next to make sure he's good and we don't miss out on anything."