SHAMBOLIC WALES LEAVE PIVAC ON THE BRINK AS GEORGIA REVEL IN GREATEST VICTORY
THE drinks were still flowing at Georgia’s Cardiff hotel yesterday morning. Sat around a table with a bottle of scotch at its centre, the head coach, Levan Maisashvili, and president, Soso Tkemaladze, contemplated the greatest result in their country’s rugby history. The voices of their players and staff were hoarse. The empty look of Paul Tito, a former Cardiff Blues favourite and now an assistant coach for Georgia, told its own story. The Lelos deserved to celebrate. For Wales, the post-mortem had already begun.
A home defeat by Georgia was the darkest day in recent Welsh rugby history. Wayne Pivac’s side have lost to both Italy and Georgia this year. Pivac’s position is now close to untenable.
He has won only three of 11 games this year. It is not good enough and the Welsh Rugby Union should act decisively, although that is unlikely. It is not just the results Pivac has presided over. Some of the performances have been shambolic. Italy in the Six Nations was bad, but Georgia was worse. Wales were rudderless and it looked as if Pivac’s players had lost faith in him. WRU chief executive Steve Phillips must surely now be after a phone number for Scott Robertson.
‘We have got to stick together as a team,’ said No 8 Taulupe Faletau. ‘We have shown we can bounce back from low points like this.’
Where Wales go from here is uncertain. But for Georgia, the path should be clear. The Lelos must be
given a shot at the Six Nations via a promotion and relegation play-off. ‘We are like a dog that goes hunting and then gets let off the lead,’ Maisashvili told Sportsmail. ‘We are hungry. The players are my mates, my life. ‘I have known some of them since they were six years old when they couldn’t tie their shoelaces or go to the toilet. That togetherness is our strength. It is how we can beat tier-one countries. We can play for each other much better than any other team in the world.’ Maisashvili added: ‘I’m tired of speaking about it but we need more games against tier-one countries. Italy was the first tier-one country we beat, Wales the second. I promise you there will be a third.
‘Every year we start with the Rugby Europe competition — there is a big difference. It kills us. What does that give us? It’s a joke. Rugby is not only 10 countries. We had eight players out with injury against Wales and a 19-year-old tighthead. For 40 minutes, Wales did not score.’
The WRU’s poor governance remains a huge issue off the field. On it, the country’s national side is in severe trouble. A loss to struggling Australia on Saturday could be the end for Pivac.