GEORGE North is running back into his Lions form of 2013 – just in time to run into the All Blacks – according to Wales coach Warren Gatland.

The Northampton wing scored just one of his side’s nine tries in their record 67-14 demolition of Italy, a victory that clinched a Six Nations runners-up spot for Wales.

But North was also a provider, decoy, and deft distributor and Gatland believes he is approaching his levels of three years ago after a period when his confidence seemed brittle.

“With George, it was all about building him up again and giving him some confidence,” said Gatland.

“Stop knocking him down at the knees. You have no idea what it means to these young guys when people get behind them and build them up.  It has a massive influence.

“I think he’s been one of the top try scorers out there. He’s playing with a smile on his face and he’s in a really good place. Hopefully we can build on that with the team we have.

“George is getting back towards the form he was in back in 2013 and hopefully we can build on that. I’m really excited about what we can look forward to from him this summer.”

Gatland has taken plenty of criticism himself during this tournament, most of it about a lack of style – or an evolution of style – rather than complaints about results.

He appears bruised by the blows aimed on him from some quarters, although there are likely to be few complaints if Wales win in New Zealand this summer – even just once – a country where they have never tasted victory before.

“It was incredibly important for the players to deliver a performance this week and they did that. I was hugely impressed by the way they responded to the England defeat.

“We have tried to change the way we play but it doesn’t happen overnight. We have been criticised and people have said, ‘same old, same old’ but we are not a club side and so it has taken us a bit of time.”

“It’s been a funny campaign. I understand there’s a massive expectation and we’ve been criticised for the way we play even though we’ve been successful. It takes time though and it’s a game we can develop. It doesn’t happen overnight. At times we had some passes which didn’t go to hand but I thought we showed some nice developments and played some nice stuff.”

Seven days on from a defeat against England that left Wales playing only for runners-up spot when Italy arrived at the Principality Stadium, they cut loose.

A 67-14 victory proved Wales’ biggest in Six Nations history, surpassing a 48-point winning margin against Scotland two years ago, and also the most points for them during one championship game as second place was emphatically secured.

Ross Moriarty (2), George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Liam Williams, Rhys Webb, Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar claimed touchdowns, with Biggar kicking five conversions and two penalties for a 21-point haul, while Rhys Priestland added three late conversions.

“We are all disappointed with what happened last week,” Gatland said. “As coaches and players, we had an in-house meeting about what we could have done differently.

“The players were incredibly honest, and we spoke about how important it was to go out and deliver a performance, and in fairness to the players they did that.

“I was hugely impressed by the way they responded to the disappointment of last week and putting it behind us to focus on finishing second (in the championship).

Gatland, meanwhile, said that Ospreys flanker Justin Tipuric was taken to hospital for observation after hitting his head on the turf after a nasty fall from a 15th-minute lineout.

And looking ahead to the three-Test New Zealand trip in June against what will be a new-look All Blacks side, Gatland said: “I don’t think you would ever underestimate New Zealand with the quality of players they’ve got.

“With any team, you have got to go and believe in your own ability. We are wasting our time getting on the plane if we don’t think we can go down there and push New Zealand hard.

“Everyone talks about southern hemisphere (teams) moving the ball wide and the points and tries they score. Well, the last two southern hemisphere teams we’ve played, Australia never scored a try against us and South Africa scored one in the last four minutes.

“We have got to go down there believing that on our day and if things go right, that we are good enough to win.”

Italy claimed second-half consolation scores from scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani and centre Gonzalo Garcia, with Kelly Haimona kicking two conversions, but they suffered another landslide Six Nations defeat just seven days on from conceding 58 points against Ireland.

They have won just 12 out of 85 Six Nations games, while this season was their 11th wooden spoon for finishing last. They also conceded 29 tries, with 18 of those coming in their last two matches.

It will inevitably re-energise a debate about promotion and relegation involving the Six Nations and Europe’s Tier 2 countries, but Italy skipper Sergio Parisse is standing firm.

“When you lose matches, it is normal that everyone talks about relegation. I understand that,” Parisse said.

“But I think there is no way to have relegation in this tournament because can you imagine next year if someone like Ireland or Scotland are last and got relegated? Do you think the (national) federations are going to accept that? Imagine France have a really, really poor campaign.

“I really respect all the other nations – Georgia and Romania have really progressed a lot – but we have been involved in this tournament because we have had some great results.

“We have beaten Ireland, Wales, we beat France a few times, and Scotland, and we win the respect from everyone to be involved in this tournament.

“Obviously, it’s a difficult campaign, but I think at the same time the other nations must have historic results as we did in the past and maybe one day be involved in this tournament, but there is no way to do relegation.

“If one day, anyone decides we must be involved in a relegation match with another nation, we are going to accept that and play 100 per cent.”