Wales 43-14 Georgia

Wales opened their World Cup campaign with a disjointed, but ultimately convincing, six-try victory over battling Georgia.

Jonathan Davies touched down in the opening three minutes, setting the tone for an almost free scoring forty minutes in which Wales wrapped up the try bonus point and kept Georgia off the scoreboard.

The Georgians deserve huge credit for working their way back into the game in the second half, frustrating and disrupting the Welsh attack and notching a couple of tries of their own, but Tomos Williams and George North combined to devastating effect for two brilliantly worked tries off the right wing, putting the result beyond doubt.

All in all, Wales are in decent shape and off to a good start. In a season in which Wales’ dogged, suffocating defence saw them march to the Six Nations title, I’m especially pleased to see us cross the whitewash on six occasions in this game. Let’s face it, when you have explosive players like North, Liam Williams and Josh Adams on the field, we want to see tries.  Exceeding 40 points in the opening hit-out will hopefully put a spring in the step of the back line just in time for the showdown with Australia on Sunday.

Huge respect also to Stephen Jones, and indeed the players, who seamlessly produced an impressive performance having had just a few days to adapt to Rob Howley’s departure.

Australia now loom large. The Wallabies were eventually comfortable winners in their opening fixture at the weekend, having pulled away in the final quarter of their match against Fiji, after the Pacific Islanders threatened an upset in the first half.

Fiji went on to lose 30-27 against Pool D rivals Uruguay in today’s only fixture – a remarkable, inspirational and emotional game at Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, built in honour of the residents of Kamaishi who lost their lives when the city was devastated by Japan’s 2011  earthquake and tsunami.

Japan have been incredible hosts in these opening days of the tournament, and I honestly feel this could turn out to be the best Rugby World Cup yet.

Wales now have four days to prepare for their crunch meeting with the Wallabies, with the winners set to take control of Pool D, and a big step towards the knockout stages.

 

 

Rugby World Cup 2019: The Wait is Almost Over

In a little over twelve hours, Japan will host Russia in the opening game of Rugby World Cup 2019 – and what a tournament it promises to be, with many pundits believing this could be the most open and unpredictable edition yet.

Excitement has really been simmering for the last four years – ever since Japan beat South Africa at RWC 2015. An incredible 15,000 fans showed up to watch a Wales training session on Monday, and it’s easy to see that rugby fever has really gripped the nation in the last few months. When the first whistle blows to signal the start of tomorrow’s historic opening fixture, the atmosphere in Tokyo will be absolutely incredible.

The opening weekend promises to be an absolute cracker, with fixtures including Ireland v Scotland, England v Tonga, France v Argentina and New Zealand v South Africa. Wales must wait until Monday for their opening match – a Pool D encounter against Georgia.

The Grand Slam Champions entered their summer programme full of confidence, but one win from four games means their 14 match winning streak going into these fixtures now feels like a distant memory. Compounding matters, backs coach Rob Howley has been sent home amidst an alleged breach of betting rules, just six days before Wales’ opening fixture. Stephen Jones is going to be parachuted in as a last minute replacement.

The big question for me is: can Wales deal with this adversity, and use it to their advantage? We’ll be needing our senior players to really step up. During the Six Nations, a proposed merger between the Ospreys and Scarlets regions threatened to completely de-rail their campaign, only for Wales to weather the storm against Scotland in Murrayfield, and escape with the win.

If Wales can soak up the pressure, then just how far can they go in this tournament? Personally, I feel that anything less than a semi-final place would be a disappointment, given the strength of the squad and the achievements of the last 18 months. And if we can just make the Final…who knows what could happen?

The next six weeks are poised to be a real festival of sport, and I for one cannot wait! Good luck to hosts Japan, and to all the teams involved in this wonderful tournament. Here’s to another thrilling and enthralling Rugby World Cup!