How Wales veered from attacking verve to loss of focus following a tumultuous week
After the tumultuous week Wales endured, it was a welcome relief to finally play some rugby on Monday. The performance against Georgia was on point in the first half but with the game already won, it was a humdrum fare after the break in Toyota.
Imperfections aside, Warren Gatland would have taken a 43-14 win ahead of the encounter and will now be plotting ahead of what appears to be the pool-defining clash against Australia. Here’s what RugbyPass learnt…
Wales relocate their attacking verve…
It had been ten months and ten games since Wales last racked up enough tries to muster a bonus point. Indeed, the sight of three tries chalked up Wales’ favour after just 19 minutes must have needed a double-take from anyone of a Welsh persuasion.
Of course, Georgia aided and abetted this new-found potency by seemingly lacking a coherent defensive structure – with Joe Worsley helicoptered in and being given scant time to organise his ‘D’.
When Gareth Davies fizzed a flat pass across decoy runners Josh Adams and Hadleigh Parkes after two minutes and Jonathan Davies gleefully cut a scything line through a convenient gap to gallop in unopposed, it set the tone.
(Continue reading below…)
Wales were at it again off first-phase lineout ball, which resulted in a Justin Tipuric score and when Dan Biggar put the industrious Adams away to scorch over from distance. They also showed they could improvise in unstructured play.
George North, better known as a finisher than a provider, rifled through a perfectly-weighted grubber kick from 40 metres for Tomos Williams to win the footrace for a try that had similarities with Gareth Davies’ score against England in 2015.
Williams was to turn provider for the game’s most aesthetically-pleasing score when bobbing under a Georgian defender like Floyd Mayweather and stepping like David Campese to allow North to plant his size 14s and slalom between three static Georgian defenders.
Even when Biggar’s exquisite chip over the top was fumbled by a diving Liam Williams over the try line, it was a sign Wales were freeing themselves from creative shackles.
Whether it was a subtle nod to departed Rob Howley’s meticulous phase-play or a hint that emergency coach Stephen Jones had given them more licence to roam, was immaterial. These were encouraging signs.
A winning start for Wales, but plenty of room for improvement.
We have all the player ratings here.https://t.co/zgukrnPAsp
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 23, 2019
… and then lose their focus
When Liam Williams nonchalantly picked the ball off his toes to carry the ball over and secure Wales’ bonus point after 39 minutes, it was the coup de grace of a razor-sharp opening salvo.
Despite Georgia’s ineptitude, Wales had looked the dog’s cojones, holding firm at scrum-time and soaking up some heavy pressure in the latter stages with resolute defence, but after the break precision was replaced by ponderous decision making.
From the whistle, when Alun Wyn Jones was left isolated after pouncing on a ball and Georgia were awarded the penalty to kick for the corner, Wales started to unravel, slipping off tackles and allowing Georgia back into the game, with Shalva Mamukashvili rumbling over from a short distance.
This drop in intensity coincided with Tomas Francis, Gareth Davies and Aaron Wainwright departing between the 47th and 51st minute, presumably to rest up for the Australia game.
Wales appeared to lose their shape and struggle at the breakdown where Georgia’s piano-shifting forwards, spearheaded by Levan Chilachava, were in their element, turning Wales over at will.
It was telling that Wales couldn’t cross the whitewash, even though Georgia’s Jaba Bregvadze had been sin-binned after collapsing a brilliant rolling maul. On 57 minutes, Ken Owens and Wyn Jones trudged off, leaving Wales looking far less robust up front, just as fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze found his range and started to find willing runners in midfield to clatter into Welsh defenders.
With the teams tied at two tries apiece in the second half, both Alun Wyn Jones and Warren Gatland, Wales’ standard-bearers, were quick to voice their dissatisfaction and demand improvement for Sunday’s high-risk Wallaby waltz.
Justin Tipuric rolls back the years
Tipuric is at the stage of his Welsh career where he is in danger of getting taken for granted. With 67 caps, gone are the days of being the ‘next big thing’ and the ‘people’s choice’ for the No7 berth.
These days, he’s a senior figure whose leadership qualities are perhaps underestimated. Against Georgia, he showcased his full repertoire of tricks to ink himself in for a starting spot against Australia and remind everyone of his worth.
There was the speed of thought and deed to spot the gap, feint and step off his right foot and accelerate into space to dot down under the posts after 13 minutes; then there was dexterity to take the ball at the tail of the lineout that led to Liam Williams’ try, and also midfielder’s hands when putting George North away on the right flank to kick-through for Tomos Williams’ try.
Defensively, when Wales were under some concerted Georgian pressure, he wrapped his arms and held up a player, along with Alun Wyn Jones, to win a much-needed penalty. Everywhere you looked, Tipuric’s blue scrum cap tracked the ball like a heat-seeker.
He was to provide a comedy moment when balletically tip-toeing down the touchline, stretching every sinew of his body to keep the ball alive as he fell to earth, raising a smile, and with 75 minutes gone in the stifling humidity, when most players were pining for the gong, he was haring after a lost-cause ball deep behind Georgia’s try line to tackle a defender under the posts.
In short, he was at his irascible, brilliant best and Wales will need all his nous to joust with breakdown menaces, Michael Hooper and David Pocock.
With Georgia beaten in Wales' opener, Stephen Jones has finally had an opportunity to grab his breath after an incredible week https://t.co/snuKmUGPuz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 24, 2019
Georgia need more assistance to compete at the top table
World Rugby are quick to laud their own investment into the tier two game and list the various extra coaches and expertise they have thrown at the game’s lesser (financial) lights.
But it was clear from the first half an hour that Georgia were underprepared for a slick Welsh outfit, even though Graham Rowntree and latterly Joe Worsley had been deposited to help long-time coach Milton Haig with fine-tuning.
Their set-piece was a mess, with a misfiring lineout, imprecise kicks outside the 22 and numerous handling errors. Some would suggest it was purely opening night nerves but from the moment Mamuka Gorgodze, the adamantine Georgian talisman spilt the ball on the kick-off, the first quarter was a horror show.
With few competitive games against tier one nations outside the World Cup, raising standards is going to be a tall order for Los Lelos who, to their credit, improved as the game wore on.
With suggestions the imminent cash-rich Six Nations are about to sanction promotion and relegation for their storied tournament, it couldn’t come soon enough. If rugby’s elitist cabal are to truly grow the game beyond its traditional borders, they need to provide meaningful competition on a regular basis.
All roads lead to Tokyo
It was wholly unsurprising Warren Gatland emptied his bench so early with Australia looming. Wales have a six-day turnaround compared to the eight-day breeze enjoyed by the Wallabies and Gatland said afterwards they still haven’t revealed a full hand as they look to give Michael Cheika’s men a metaphorical bloody nose.
In the post-match incidentals, Gatland said they were relatively unscathed. Hadleigh Parkes sustained a hand injury that will need monitoring, Ken Owens had a scare with his knee minutes before he was due to go off while George North was lucky to escape injury after being taken out recklessly by Shalva Sutiashvili but, on reflection, Gatland would have been happy enough.
For their part, Australia still have the annoyance of waiting to see whether Reece Hodge is available after being cited for his no-arms tackle on Fiji’s Peceli Yato, but they have a reason for confidence.
Gatland has had a torrid time facing the Wallabies, with only two wins in 15 games, but after finally winning last November, there is little to choose between the teams. On Sunday, those of a nervous disposition would be best advised to look away.
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Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments