George North breaks to score a try for Wales against Italy in the 2015 Six Nations© Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Warren Gatland has told George North there is still room for improvement - just hours before the wing becomes Wales' youngest ever player to win 50 caps.

The Northampton Saints player will be 23 years and 138 days old when he runs out for the World Cup warm-up game against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

Despite this achievement, coach Gatland said North has "got the ability to be a lot better than he is".

He added: "He's had 50 caps which is fantastic but I think there's still a lot of improvement. "And probably in the last 12 months he hasn't played as well as we would have liked, he's aware of that and we've been working hard on his game."

North, who has not played for five months after picking up a concussion while playing for Northampton, scored a hat-trick in his last appearance for Wales against Italy at the Six Nations.

But Gatland believes North's recent international form has not been up to the standards of a player of his talent.

"Players of that ability need to get their hands on the ball," Gatland said. "He probably went through a couple of campaigns where his touches weren't enough, and he made some defensive errors so it was pleasing to see some of that confidence has come back into his game [against Italy]."

But Gatland, who first capped North as an 18-year-old against South Africa in 2010, added that North's achievement is "exceptional".

He said: "I remember seeing him as an 18-year-old playing for the Scarlets and saying: 'Look, we have to cap him as soon as possible because there's a freakish talent there.'

"I don't think we've seen the full extent of the potential he still has to be and a player and we still haven't ruled in the future that he couldn't be an outstanding centre as well."