Wales largely beat Georgia (43-19) on Saturday October 7 in Nantes in a strong match, allowing them to finish in first place in Group D. With this fourth success in four matches , the XV du Leek, which nevertheless came out of a delicate preparation with a formation considered aging, obtained 19 points out of 20 possible, showing that its players are capable of reaching the last four of the World Cup as in 2019. In finishing first, they thus avoid their English rival in the quarter-finals and will face the winner of the Japan-Argentina match which takes place on Sunday on the same La Beaujoire lawn.
In addition, thanks to this success enhanced with six tries – including a hat-trick from their speedy winger Louis Rees-Zammit – they wash away the insult of their defeat in the fall of 2022 in Cardiff (13-12) against these same Georgians. The Caucasians leave France with only three points in the standings, a draw and three defeats, and end a disappointing World Cup, even if they played their last match in Nantes with panache, receiving warm applause from the public during of their lap of honor.
A scuffle and two yellow cards
Before kick-off, fly-half Gareth Anscombe, who felt groin pain during the warm-up, was replaced by Sam Costelow. During the first act, the Welsh, dominant in touch and scrum, controlled the debates, without forcing too much, scoring a strong try by their pillar Tomas Francis and another by their fullback Liam Williams after a nice series of hooks. After a strong moment of domination, Georgian center and captain Sharkadze scored strongly under the posts (17-7 at half-time).
At the restart, on a poorly adjusted opponent’s pass, Louis Rees-Zamit scored the break try on the counter (24-7). Despite territorial domination, Georgia failed to score, missing several chances close to the line. The Georgians finally flattened by Karkadze after a “penalty” (24-14 in the 59th). In a beautiful sequence, Niniashvili woke up the Nantes public by scoring in the corner after a magnificent run and a no less magnificent dive (24-19, 62nd).
But on a new recovery ball well exploited, Rees-Zammit scored a double and ensured the offensive bonus (31-19). He even scored a hat-trick on a disputed try after apparently dropping the ball into the goal. In the 71st minute, tempers heated up and French referee Mathieu Raynal showed two yellow cards. In the last action of the match, George North scored the sixth Welsh try, allowing them to cross the 40-point barrier.
