It remains to be seen how much can be read into Elliot Daly’s withdrawal immediately after his burst down the left led to Jack Nowell’s second try – particularly as he later came back on for Jared Payne – but there can be no doubting George North is under pressure for his place in Saturday’s Test side. Daly, Nowell and Liam Williams all enjoyed excellent performances, benefiting from the tireless work of their forwards, but it is Daly, with the added advantage of his powerful left boot, that appears closest to dislodging him. North has size on his side which, considering Julian Savea’s likely presence in the All Blacks XV, is significant, so perhaps Daly has played his way into the No23 jersey, in place of his England team-mate Jonathan Joseph. Warren Gatland says he has still not decided on his Test back three however and it has become the least certain aspect of his starting XV.
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