Wales will be battle ready after Georgia opener

I’VE been in Japan this week looking ahead to the 2019 World Cup. It’s a country I’m used to, having played here at the end of my career, but I’d forgotten just what an amazing country it is.

It’s going to be an unreal competition in two years’ time!

I’ve been doing some work with the Japanese tourist board on the tournament and I’ve been throwing myself into the local culture. We’ve been Sumo wrestling, training with monks and even been out fishing to be taught how to cut fresh tuna.

It’s been an amazing time and I’ve had the pleasure of being out here with Andy Powell, a teammate of mine from my Wales days. His presence has certainly made for an interesting trip!

There is a real appetite for the World Cup in Japan and any fans coming to the country are going to have a fantastic time. Plus you can fly anywhere in a couple of hours or get the bullet train which is a real positive for supporters and players alike.

It means that in the pool stages – when turnarounds between games are short – they won’t have to travel long distances. If you do that, it hits your recovery time and overall, the quality of the rugby suffers.

I was honoured to be asked to be involved in the fixture ceremony for the competition and on the whole, I think Wales can be pleased with their draw.

The key thing was to avoid playing Australia first up. They’ve managed that and I think having Georgia as the opening game and then the meeting with the Wallabies is a real positive.

Facing Georgia first up – a hugely physical side – will mean Wales will be battle-hardened and ready to go with further games against Fiji and either Canada or Uruguay to come.

While I’ve been in Japan I’ve been keeping in touch with what’s been happening back at home and I was interested to read Warren Gatland’s comments that Wales will be genuine World Cup contenders.

I’m not sure I buy into that totally, but I’ll never criticise any head coach for being positive. It’s interesting that we play both Australia and Georgia this November and at the World Cup and Wales must take their learnings from the next few weeks.

I was an interested observer at the match between the Wallabies and Japan in Yokohama yesterday and if you’d like any tips, Warren, all you have to do is pick up the phone!