Wales No 10 Priestland hailed for his ‘mental resilience’ ahead of tough Georgia test

Wales assistant coach Stephen Jones has praised Rhys Priestland's sustained ability to deal with expectation and pressure surrounding the role of an international fly-half.

Jones has been there himself, winning more than 100 caps during a Wales career that spanned 13 years. Priestland,

who will be 36 in January, made his Test debut during the 2011Sixnationschampionship, and he starts at No 10 against Autumn Nations Series opponents Georgia tomorrow.

"You know if you play certain positionstherewillbequestions asked of you," Jones said.

"The key is your ability as a person, your mental resilience that you can stay focused with your job and not have distractions. He has certainly done that.

"Put performances aside for one minute, it is how he has been in the environment, how he's been with the other players, his standards in training, his role knowledge and how he is helping developing players.

"And you look at his performances regarding how he has driventhegameandhowhehas managedthegame-plan.heisa very smart player. He has been excellent and I cannot speak highly enough of him."

Priestland is among six changes to the side that defeated Argentina last weekend as Wales look to despatch opponents they will meet again at nextyear'sworldcupinfrance.

Recent encounters either side of a comfortable 2019 World Cup win against Georgia, though, saw Wales triumph 13-6 and 18-0, underlining that they can be tough opponents to crack.

Georgia also arrive in Cardiff following victory over Italy this year, while they pushed Samoa last weekend before being edged out 20-19 by a late try.

Jones added: "The vast majority of them [Georgia's players] play in the [French] Top 14 and there are some very good clubs in the Top 14. They have got someveryphysicalplayers,they love the set-piece, so we respect what they are going to bring.

"We have to be accurate in what we do, we have to be patient and we have to be prepared to stick to our game-plan. Theballisinourcourtfromthat aspect.

"From an attacking perspective, we have to play in the right areas, but we have to deal with the collisions as well.”