Wales 43 Georgia 19
Louis Rees-Zammit scored a hat-trick of tries as Wales maintained their momentum ahead of the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a six-try 43-19 win over Georgia on Saturday to seal top spot in Pool C with a fourth successive victory.
Wales will likely play either Argentina or Japan in the knockout stages after another accomplished display in which they led 17-7 at half-time but had to withstand a Georgian rally in the second period.
They scored other tries through prop Tomas Francis, fullback Liam Williams and centre George North, and gained revenge for a shock 13-12 loss to Georgia in Cardiff last November, a result that hastened the exit of former coach Wayne Pivac.
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Georgia go home without a win but have been competitive and managed an 18-18 draw with Portugal. Their tries came from captain Merab Sharikadze, hooker Vano Karkadze and wing Davit Niniashvili.
The win came at a cost for Wales with number eight Taulupe Faletau ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a broken arm, while coach Warren Gatland also faces an anxious wait for news on Gareth Anscombe.
“Toby has broken his arm so he’ll be out,” Gatland said. “We’re going to assess Gareth over the next 72 hours. He’s pulled his groin very high but he’s still got power in his leg.
“We’ve got to look at a replacement for Faletau, whether that’s a loose forward or another position. It’s tough for him because he didn’t play in the warm-ups and we felt he was back to his best.
“It’s a big loss for us. We’ll make a decision on his replacement and the balance of the backrow next week.”
Should Anscombe, who did not play in any of Wales’ warm-up matches due to injury, have a spell on the sidelines, it could leave Gatland short of options at outhalf after Dan Biggar picked up a knock against Australia.
Biggar was on the bench against Georgia following Anscombe’s injury, but did not come on as Gatland opted to play Sam Costelow for the full match.
“We did talk about bringing Dan on but he was under a bit of an injury cloud as well so it was good for young Sam Costelow to play 80 minutes and get through that having been thrown in the deep end right at the start of the game,” Gatland said.
“We won’t bring another 10 out unless Gareth is completely ruled out. Then it’s about finding the best possible fit for players carrying knocks.”
Fullback Liam Williams also appeared to pick up a knee injury during the game.
Wales will always have had a knock-out place in mind despite poor form coming into the tournament, but four wins from four is, injuries aside, as good as it gets for Gatland.
“We probably struggled a bit today, Georgia aren’t a bad side,” he said. “They put us under pressure but we got the job done and we can now focus on next week.”
Wales scored their opening try when they set up a driving maul from a lineout and Francis barged over as they spun the ball into the midfield.
Williams scored his 20th try for his country when they launched from another attacking lineout and spun the ball wide, with the fullback able to dance his way over the line.
Georgia captain Sharikadze became the first player to score a try against Wales in three tests when he finished a concerted spell of pressure, going over under the posts after numerous phases.
Wales extended their advantage after halftime as Rees-Zammit raced clear and he had too much pace on the outside for the retreating Georgian defence.
They looked virtually home and dry at that point, but Georgia fought back and scored the next two tries, the first a close-range finish from Karkadze before Niniashvili ghosted through a large gap in the Welsh defensive line to bring the score to 24-19.
Wales took control again, however, when Williams’s chipped kick was perfect for Rees-Zammit to score his second, before he added a third and turned provider for North to seal a strong performance.
