It may be Paris fashion week but Wales are not dealing in frills or fripperies. Hard graft remains the name of the game as they completed two tough training sessions before their game against Georgia this weekend, determined to finish top of Pool C and sustain the feelgood momentum they have been building.
If the non-participation of their bench scrum-half Gareth Davies forced some temporary readjustments, with the fly-halves Dan Biggar and Sam Costelow required to fill in at nine, the shared drive to achieve significant knockout progress remains as strong as ever. Should they go on to win a quarter-final against either Argentina or Japan all eyes will be very much on them.
By announcing their team on Monday, Wales have already made a no‑nonsense statement. Despite losing 13-12 against Georgia in Cardiff last November, a result which led to Wayne Pivac being jettisoned as head coach, a long summer spent together in camp has forged a very different feel.
“We’re more like a club team than an international team,” the forwards coach, Jonathan Humphreys, said. “We came in earlier than most teams, we know what we wanted to improve and we haven’t deviated from that.”
Sitting alongside him, Nick Tompkins also highlighted the buoyant mood within the squad, even if a good deal of the humour seems to be at his expense. The centre has racked up more in-house fines than any other Welsh player for offences ranging from wearing the wrong kit to poor timekeeping but he is relishing every second of a World Cup he did not always think he would make.
Wales’s spirit and togetherness, not a million miles removed from the tight-knit environment at Saracens that Tompkins knows so well, was also reflected in Wales’s refusal to concede a try against Australia. If doing the unexpected is not a priority – “We cannot afford to go off-script,” Humphreys warned, wary of Georgia stealing the show in Nantes – Tompkins believes there is still plenty more left in them. “We want no dip in our performance and we don’t want to take our foot off the pedal. We want confidence and momentum and to keep on going.”
In many ways, the former England age-group captain is developing into an increasingly important cog in this Wales machine. Since Hadleigh Parkes’s departure in 2020, numerous different individuals have been tried at inside-centre and Gatland has used four players at 12 this year alone.
The Saracen is not the flashy type but his energy and defensive prowess make him a highly valuable squad member, particularly within the kind of stripped-down gameplan that has taken Wales to the verge of the knockout stage. Neither Semi Radradra nor Samu Kerevi have had much prolonged joy against him for Fiji and Australia respectively and his eager try against the Wallabies was another plus in their 40-6 victory.
Like every centre in the tournament, though, Tompkins is fully aware of the thin line that exists between a fair tackle and a slight misjudgment, as seen on numerous occasions already during this tournament. “At the moment the tackle areas is a real grey area. We’re all just trying to figure it out. It’s difficult because you’re making split-second decisions.”
Tompkins remains a fan of the bunker review system for such tricky decisions – “To cut down the pressure we put on referees, especially, is good” – but was not wholly convinced by the decision to send off England’s Tom Curry against Argentina last month that has sidelined the flanker until now. “It’s a bit reckless from him but I don’t think that’s a red card.
“I don’t think I’ve seen one red card that has been really malicious. But if I hit someone with my shoulder we all know as players that it’s usually going to be a red card. You just can’t be reckless. You’ve got to be on the edge but you can’t go too far. For me it just screams the need to keep practising technique and tackling on the right side.”
A costly card is perhaps the most obvious danger confronting Wales as they prepare for the games that will define their campaign. Equally, they are not about to ease up now.
“There has been a bit of an edge about training, which is what we want,” Humphreys said. “We are just keen to continue the progress we’ve shown. That is a big driving force for us and we have talked constantly about that.” It might not sound glamorous but, for this Welsh squad, winning is the only trend that truly matters.
