Georgia Off My Mind

Wales duly dispatched Georgia 43-19 to top their group and march on to the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup. When you put it like that it sounds easy, but it was anything but that, as the tough Georgians gave Wales plenty to think about. There was a stage in the second half when things looked ominous as Wales took their eyes off the ball and the Georgians scored a couple of quick tries to close the gap to just five points. The pace of Rees Zammit sealed the deal for Wales, thank goodness, as he crossed for two tries to add to his try in the first half. Another try from North as the match drew to a close gave the rather flattering final scoreline.

In the end, the expected victory for Wales but there is plenty of room for improvement after an inconsistent performance. It is a bit frustrating that we do not seem able to get the ball to our pacy wings in space. Wales did kick an awful lot of ball away and let the dangerous Georgian wings run the ball back. Playing against the really physical Georgians you can expect a few injuries. Sadly, for Wales the RWC is over for one of their key players as Faletau suffered a broken arm. I am sure there will be a few more with bumps and bruises.  In addition, Anscombe was injured in the warm-up and took no part in the match.

So, it is on to the quarterfinal. It could be against Argentina or Japan and that will be decided today. Wales surely must be in with a decent chance of making what seemed to be a very unlikely semi-final before the tournament started. Fortunately, the draw has kept them away from the big guns with France, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland looking several classes better than the rest. Ireland rather took Scotland apart yesterday and look strong in all departments and will take some stopping. There are two very tasty quarterfinals in prospect with Ireland v New Zealand and France v South Africa. The remaining quarter final looks like being England v Fiji - if Fiji can get the point they need against Portugal today. England were rather fortunate to claim a narrow 17-18 victory against Samoa yesterday and have not looked very convincing thus far.

Next Saturday looks like a busy day.  Pooler will make the trip to Merthyr for an early 1pm kick-off and then Wales will play their quarterfinal at 4pm. Pooler will need to be at their best to challenge the powerful Merthyr team that never seems to be far from the top of the Premiership.

Come on Pooler!

Come on Wales!