Advertisement

Share this article


Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards apologised for "boring you to death", but refused to make a prediction ahead of his team's World Cup opener against Georgia tomorrow.

The Welsh got knocked out in the quarter-finals in the last edition of the tournament. But go into this tournament in good spirit after spending some time of the warm-ups games as the world's top-ranked team.

"We have been preparing for this for a very long time," Edwards said ahead of the game against Georgia. "It has been two years in the making and we are fully focused on Monday night and playing a formidable opponent. They are an opponent we have got a lot of respect for. We know it is going to be physical but we are here to compete."

"We are taking it one game at a time. We have got Georgia on Monday, we're against a very inspirational captain and he will lead his troops into battle. We will have to overcome Georgia first and then look at Australia. I am not the type of person to make predictions. Sorry, for boring you to death."

The weather conditions have been a big talking point in the run-up to the tournament, with Wales using baby oil to make sure they are ready for the humid conditions in Japan. Heavy rainfall is also expected in the country in the next couple of days. "We have had a quick talk about that," said Edwards. "If a storm comes there is nothing we can do about it.

"But we handled the conditions against Ireland when they wanted the roof open in the last Grand Slam game and we are confident that we can play in the wet. We think we are a good wet weather team and if it is wet and slippery, which potentially it could be, then we have to adapt our tactics and tighten things up.

"It’s harder to play expansive three pass rugby in those kinds of conditions, but you have to be able to adapt. That's what fantastic about the game of rugby, that there are different styles of tactics. You saw yesterday when Australia started off the game throwing the ball around and then changed their tactics at half-time. It worked for them. You have to be able to adapt accordingly and that's our plan."


Share this article


Read more about

Georgia Rugby Rugby World Cup Shaun Edwards Wales

You might like