Wales are out of the blocks in the chase for their first ever World Cup in Japan 2019 with a solid and stable 43-14 victory over Georgia at a wet City of Toyota Stadium.
After Australia defeated Fiji in the first pool D clash of the tournament it was important Wales didn’t slip up against the ever improving ‘Lelos’ and after just 2 minutes the men in red took the lead as centre Jonathan Davies cut a fantastic angle off a scrum 22 yards out and was expertly found by Gareth Davies who fired a pass flat to put Davies under the posts. Dan Biggar was left shaking his head as he cannoned an easy conversion back off the posts. Could this be costly for Wales later in the game? No. 3 minutes later, Georgia give a penalty away for offside and Wales talismanic skipper, Alun Wyn Jones who was equalling Gethin Jenkins’ record as the most capped Wales international of all time, signalled to Luke Pearce that Biggar would be kicking at goal. No problem this time for the Northampton Saints outside half as he slots the kick over. 8-0.
Wales increases their advantage again thanks to a try from Justin Tipuric, Biggar put Josh Adams through a hole, he was brought down just before the line but Tipuric spotted a gap next to the ruck which he strolled through and scored underneath the posts. Converted by Biggar. Déjà vu as Wales win the lineout, Biggar pops back inside to Adams again who isn’t caught this time, he steps off his right foot and speeds past the Georgian fullback to score an excellent try. The absence of their attack coach Rob Howley didn’t seem to be affect the Welshmen who went 22-0 up thanks to another Biggar conversion.
Georgia went twenty minutes before conceding more points, in fact they did threaten the welsh line a few times with Gareth Davies possibly unlucky not to see yellow for a potential deliberate knock on. However, just before half time it was Davies who created a good wrap around and put Jonathan Davies through a hole and despite a scrappy pass, Saracen Liam Williams scored in the corner for the bonus point. Biggar took his kicking ratio to 4/5 for the game with another 2-pointer.
Half-time. A great performance from Wales and a mistake ridden half from Georgia meant Wales lead 29-0 at the break. Wales looked eager to remind the rugby world that they were the current Grand Slam champions and should not be written off in this tournament. 0 for Georgia was a little harsh, they had some good spells, but Wales far and away the dominant team.
With some fans still arriving back into their seats for the second period, the first try of the half had been scored, but not for Gatland’s men. Instead it was the Georgian’s who rumbled through the welsh pack with a well-formed maul. Converted by young star Teto Abzhandadze. A few ticks of the clock later and Georgia lucky not to concede not once but twice! First Georgia collapse a maul heading for their line then seconds later Liam Williams drops a great Biggar chip just over the line. Referee comes back to the collapsed maul and sin-bins Georgia’s replacement hooker Bregvadze, but no penalty try. Bregvadze returns to action after his yellow card with Wales unable to have scored any points with their man advantage.
64 Mins, North gets the ball on the wing and kicks a beautiful through ball through to Tomos Williams to score, Ronaldinho-esque from the big winger. Georgia, not to be outdone in this second half replied through a pick and go by Levan Chilichava, some good play in the build-up though. In contrast to the first half, the Georgian’s showed real promise, they would draw the half 14 all as Wales scored a good try with 5 to go. All started by a loose kick from Georgia, number 21 Tomos Williams danced passed 3 defenders on the righthand side and turned provider for George North who had assisted him earlier in the half. The try still took some scoring, but Wale’s third record try-scorer with 39 Welsh tries to his name easily beat one man and reached for the corner for Wales’ sixth of the game.
Pearce blew his whistle for the last time in Toyota with Wales winning 43-14. An assured performance by Wales to take the attention away from Howley-gate and onto the fact they are a real threat in this world cup. Georgia struggled at times, but Milton Haig will be positive with the way they performed and be confident they can beat Uruguay in Kumagaya on Sunday. However, the worlds attention on Sunday will turn to the Japanese capital where the two teams at the top of Pool D meet in what proves to be a thrilling game in Tokyo. Gatland has admitted Wales will need to go up a gear to avenge the ghosts of Twickenham in 2015, however, with Israel Folau not included in the Wallabies world cup squad and Reece Hodge looking set to be cited for a high shot on Fiji’s Perceli Yato in their opener, they will go to Tokyo in a confident mood.
Haydn Evans 