Wales scored six tries to see off a spirited Georgian side to march on to a World Cup Quarter Final. A hat-trick from Louis Rees Zammit would help wales to a 43-19 win in Nantes this afternoon, as they have guaranteed top spot in Pool C.

The opening ten minutes of this game was dominated by a kicking battle between the sides, as both looked for territorial control. A Mexican wave in the crowd in the 7^th minute summed up what neutrals thought of the opening phases of this game. The sun in Nantes was proving to be a factor, with players from both sides using their hands as sun visors whilst attempting to track the ball in the air.

As the games of kicking tennis settled, Wales looked to put Georgia under pressure in their own 22’. Scuppering a 3 on 1 chance in the 14^th minute, they would make amends on penalty advantage just one minute later. Wales looked to utilise their driving maul off the back of a successful lineout as they drove towards the Georgian try line.

Falling short, Tomos Williams spun the ball out to oncoming runners. Two phases later, Tomas Francis would be passed the ball at speed, with the prop carrying his momentum to power over the whitewash. Wales made amends for their earlier mistake with a simple try scored efficiently.

Sam Costelow, who was brought into the starting line-up following the late withdrawal of Gareth Anscombe, added the extra two points from the conversion.

Wales would double their lead just seven minutes later off the back of another lineout; Wales clearly using their lineout as a platform to attack from. With another driving maul being stopped just short of the line, Tomos Williams opted to spin the ball wide straight away to Sam Costelow.

The 22-year-old fly-half spotted a rushing defence and chose to delay his pass, committing the defence, before putting the ball on a plate for Liam Williams who now had an easy run to the try line. Davit Niniashvili attempted to tackle Williams, but the full-back was able to use his momentum to break the tackle and dot over for an easy score.

A conversion and a penalty kick from Costelow would add to his tally in this game and bring Wales’ lead up to 17 points with half an hour played.

Georgia would respond well to the early scores from Wales and looked to claw back some momentum in this game. 17-0 was a rather flattering scoreline for Wales after 30 minutes of rugby. Georgia would make their first visit to the Welsh 22’ count as they scored a try underneath the posts from their captain, Merab Sharikadze. Taking a note from Wales’ playbook, they looked to use the lineout maul as a weapon, although it looked as if this would be to no avail.

All of a sudden, flanker Beka Saginadze appeared with ball in hand running at full speed towards the Welsh defence. After a number of phases, Georgia’s outside centre ran a hard line and released a late inside pop pass to centre partner Merab Sharikadze who was poorly tackled by George North short of the line, only for the captain to stretch his right arm over the line to score Georgia’s first try of this game. A conversion from Luka Matkava would cut Wales’ lead to ten points as Georgia grew into this game by the end of the half.

After their score Georgia looked dangerous, and caused Wales a whole host of issues, but luckily for the Welsh half-time was just around the corner. After winning a penalty for a neck roll, Sam Costelow kicked the ball out of play to call time on the first half. Wales led 17-7 at half-time, but looked poor and sloppy after their two-week break. Warren Gatland cut a rather frustrated figure as the cameras panned to the Wales manager at the half time whistle.

It was Wales who were first off the mark in this second half, as they were gifted a try-scoring opportunity in the 43^rd minute thanks to a loose pass from Giorgi Kveseladze which bounced its way to Taulupe Faletau. The number 8 spotted the electric Louis Rees Zammit to his right and passed to the winger, who had one of the easiest scores of his career as he sped in for a try from halfway as Georgia had no cover in the backfield. Very few players in the world would have caught Rees-Zammit. Costelow added the extra two points to give Wales the best possible start to the second half.

Georgia responded well to this early blunder, and would go on to dominate the next fifteen to twenty minutes. After a strong start to this game, Wales looked poor and unstructured and took their foot off the gas.

Georgia would get their reward for an excellent period of play, as they scored a try through substitute hooker Vano Karkadze off the back of another lineout maul. After a series of pick and go drives, the hooker squeezed over the try line to get his country’s second try of this game. Matkava would score the conversion to bring Wales’ lead down to ten points.

Just two minutes later, Georgian danger man Davit Niniashvili, who had been uncharacteristically quiet until this point, got his hands on the ball with space in font of him. The winger ran at speed at the Welsh defence and found a gap between Gareth Davies and Nicky Smith as he produced a hot step to split the defence wide open. Niniashvili put on the afterburners and crossed over for a brilliant score to bring Georgia within 5 points of Wales. Matkava missed the difficult kick, but Georgia were right back in this game.

Wales would respond within a matter of minutes as Louis Rees Zammit scored his second try of the game thanks to a brilliant chip over the top from Liam Williams. The ball bounced perfectly into the hands of Rees-Zammit whose score would all-but seal the win for Wales as they secured a bonus-point earning try. Another great kick from Sam Costelow would bring Wales’ points tally to 31 points.

Davit Niniashvili and Taine Basham were both shown yellow cards in the 70^th minute following a scuffle on the touchline in which both squads and substitutes were involved.

Louis Rees Zammit completed his hat-trick in the 74^th minute after scoring a questionable try in the 74^th minute as he chased his own chip over the heads of the Georgian defence. Rees Zammit attempted to regather the ball, but his boot and the boot of Demur Tapladze looked to have kicked the ball out of play.

A try was awarded, much to the anger and confusion of the crowd, and a TMO check was not conducted despite video evidence suggesting the winger did not ground the ball. The crowd were very angry at this decision, and they certainly had a case. Costelow would miss his first conversion kick from the following effort, but Wales had the win wrapped up easily.

George North scored a consolation try right at the death to bring Wales to 41 points, with Costelow converting the following kick.

Wales rode their luck numerous times in this game, but end up with another bonus point victory that sees them sit top of Pool C with 19/20 available points. They will finish as Pool Winners, their opponents in the Quarter Finals to be discovered soon.