Tale of two halves for Wales
TOYOTA CITY: Wales produced a tale of two halves as an electric start secured a deserved 4314 bonuspoint victory over Georgia in its pool D clash on Monday, before it wilted in the energysapping humidity at the City of Toyota Stadium.
The Welsh were rampant as tries from Jonathan Davies, Justin Tipuric, Josh Adams and Liam Williams effectively ended the contest, handing it a 290 advantage at halftime with the bonus point in the bag.
That endeavour and accuracy deserted the side in a largely forgettable second 40 minutes though as tries from Tomos Williams and George North papered over gaping cracks in the Wales performance.
Georgia is hoping to use this World Cup as an audition for entry into the Six Nations, but there were few signs to suggest it is ready for that level apart from tries by props Shalva Mamukashvili
Levan chava.
Both teams are back in action on
Sunday as
Wales meets
Australia in
Tokyo in the potential decider for top spot in the pool and Georgia clashes with Uruguay in Kumagaya.
‘‘We ticked a lot of the boxes in the first half but we are probably a bit disappointed with the second half,’’ Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said.
‘‘We allowed a couple of tries and we did not continue in a similar fashion [to the first half]. It’s a good result but there is plenty to work on.
‘‘The overall feeling is that we took our foot off the gas a bit in the second half.’’
and Chila
Fiji players will pause in silence before their game against Uruguay today to commemorate those who died in the 2011 tsunami that devastated the region.
Then the plan is to run relentlessly for 80 minutes and put on a show at the Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium.
The venue was built on the grounds of two schools destroyed by the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit much of Japan’s northeastern coastline.
Uruguay will commence its campaign after having one of the longest waits to get going.
Assistant coach Oscar Duran said the side had taken advantage of the extended preparation time, and had the extra motivation of playing at Kamaishi.
‘‘We are all aware of what happened with the tsunami here, [and] what it means for everyone in Kamaishi and all of Japan to be playing a Rugby World Cup match here,’’ he said. — BPA/AP
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