Gatland hails his 'incredible' Welsh players ahead of Georgia clash

10/06/2023 Rugby Union

Warren Gatland hails his ‘incredible’ Welsh players and insists they are in an ‘outstanding place’ as they look to maintain their 100 per cent record at the World Cup against Georgia

  • Wales have enjoyed a storming start to the World Cup, winning three from three
  • They take on Georgia this Saturday in their final Pool game, hoping to finish top 
  • Warren Gatland heaped praise on his players after their performances so far 
  • Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

Warren Gatland described his players as ‘incredible’ and said Wales are in an ‘outstanding place’ as they look to finish top of Pool C by beating Georgia in Nantes on Saturday.

Wales became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals of this World Cup when they hammered Eddie Jones’ Australia 40-6.

Head coach Gatland wants to ensure his players keep up the confidence and momentum currently in the side against the Georgians who have been hit hard by injury and are yet to win in France.

‘As a squad I think we’re in an outstanding place at the moment,’ said Gatland.

‘I think there’s a really nice balance between hard work and having fun. We’ve been away for four months now – hopefully we’ve got another three or four weeks to go.’

Warren Gatland has hailed his Welsh players ahead of their final Pool match against Georgia

Wales have won three from three so far in France and are hoping to finish top of their Pool

Wales’ players were given three days off after Australia and won’t have played in 13 days by the time they meet Georgia, but Gatland has insisted his players are still firing on all cylinders.

‘It’s been easy. I haven’t had to do anything. They’ve been incredible in the way they’ve prepared themselves,’ Gatland said of his Wales team who have beaten Fiji, Portugal and Australia to date.

‘From a coaching perspective, that’s what you want. They’ve been outstanding. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way they’ve prepared so far this week and at the end of last week.’

Gatland has picked a strong side for Georgia, making six changes from the Australia success but keeping a core of his first-choice XV in place ahead of the quarter-finals.

Wales should, in all reality, have too much for Georgia. Their likely last-eight opponents are Argentina, so long as they beat Japan on Sunday. That game is also in Nantes.

‘We’ve spoken as a team about trending upwards in terms of performance,’ said Wales hooker Dewi Lake, who captains Gatland’s side this weekend.

‘I hope we haven’t peaked yet. We’ve still got a long way to go but I think we’re definitely trending in the right direction.’

Gatland added: ‘We are excited about where we are and we are looking forward to going deep into this tournament.’

The Wales boss is right to have that aim. Georgia beat Wales in Cardiff in the autumn of 2022 and while they remain a strong and dangerous team, Gatland’s players are now in a totally different place.

Michael Cheika’s Argentina – or Japan – are both beatable quarter-final opposition.

Georgia head coach Levan Maisashvili has made five changes to his starting side to face Wales from the one which narrowly lost 17-12 to Fiji.

Guram Gogichashvili and Shalva Mamukashvili return to the front row, Nodar Cheishvili comes into the second row, and captain Merab Sharikadze returns at centre to win his 99th cap.

Hooker Dewi Lake, who captains the side on Saturday, said they are going in the right direction

Georgia have been hit hard by injuries in the tournament and are yet to win a game in France

There are 15 survivors in the match-day 23 from their 13-12 victory in Cardiff last year, including 11 in the starting XV.

Meanwhile, former Wales captain and assistant coach Stephen Jones is set to head to New Zealand to link up with Super Rugby side Moana Pasifika

Jones left his role as Wales attack coach in December 2022 after Wayne Pivac was replaced by Warren Gatland.

Moana Pasifika are coached by former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga.

Wales: L Williams; Rees-Zammit, North, Tompkins, Dyer; Anscombe, T Williams; G Thomas, Lake (capt), Francis, Rowlands, Jenkins, Wainwright, Reffell, Faletau

Replacements: Dee, Smith, H Thomas, Tshiunza, Basham, Davies, Costelow, Grady

Georgia: Khmaladze; Tabutsadze, Kveseladze, Sharikadze (capt), Niniashvili; Matkava; Lobzhanidze; Gogichashvili, Mamukashvili, Gigashvili, Cheishvili, Mikautadze, Gachechiladze, Saginadze, Jalagonia

Replacements: Karkadze, Abuladze, Aptsiauri, Chachanidze, Tsutskiridze, Aprasidze, Abzhandadze, Tapladze

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

Kick-off: 2pm

Source: Read Full Article