The stories making the rugby news on Sunday November 20 as the fallout begins from an embarrassing Wales defeat.
Habana demands Alun Wyn returns
Rugby legend Bryan Habana believes Wales must recall Alun Wyn Jones after the team's shambolic loss against Georgia in Cardiff.
Wayne Pivac’s side were beaten 13-12 by the eastern Europeans, who imposed themselves physically and finished the game dominating the front-five battle.
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Habana, who won the World Cup with South Africa in 2007, was asked on Amazon Prime Video about Pivac’s selection options for the autumn finale with Australia next Saturday.
He replied: “Do you call on, in my eyes, an absolute icon in Alun Wyn Jones? Just bringing a bit of grunt, bringing a bit of vigour in terms of where this side is going.
“Is that something?”
The legendary wing raised questions about Wales’ current direction of travel after Georgia’s first win over the men in red.
“A World Cup cycle. What happens to this team? Who’s the next captain standing up? Who’s the next Tipuric? Who is the next Alun Wyn Jones?” said Habana.
“I looked at that Welsh team in the last 10 to 15 minutes. No-one knew what to do. That’s a massive worry, not only from a professional level but from a grassroots level.
“Who are they trusting out on the field? It doesn’t look like they’re trusting each other at this point.”
Faletau - fans have right to 'get on our backs'
Taulupe Faletau acknowledged that Welsh fans are entitled to vent their anger and dismay after Wales’ loss to Georgia in Cardiff.
“The supporters are entitled to their opinion, of course,” he said. “If we don’t deliver and they get on our backs, that’s just part of the game. We have just got to stick together as a group, management and players.”
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Georgia are in Wales’ group at the World Cup next year and so are Australia, the team Pivac’s men will face next Saturday.
The certainty is there will be much soul-searching in the Welsh camp in the coming days before the test against Wallabies.
“Individually, I will look back at what I could have done better and I think everybody else will do the same. We will look at how we can help each other while we are out there,” said Faletau, who said it wasn’t easy to explain what had gone so wrong against Georgia.
“It’s difficult to put your finger on. Errors maybe, including myself, I knocked the ball on. That just relieves the pressure that we are trying to create. Errors kept them in the game and we couldn’t keep continuous pressure on them. So errors kind of left them off the hook."
Georgia can scarcely believe they won
Georgian flanker Beka Gorgadze saluted the effort of their scrum in the final quarter after the team's historic win over Wales.
The eastern Europeans put Wayne Pivac's pack through the mangle late on as they exerted crushing pressure at the set-piece.
“We just kept believing and we did it," said Gorgadze. "Our scrum in the last ten minutes said it all. That was a turning point for us. It was a massive effort from our scrum pack. We are just extremely proud of them and the work they did together. It was amazing.”
The victory was one of Georgia's greatest, strengthening their case for inclusion in the Six Nations after a win over Italy earlier this year.
"We are actually speechless," said Gorgadze. "It’s hard to realise that we actually did it. But we didn’t come here just to play a game, we came here to be part of big history, in the atmosphere in Cardiff, and we are just extremely happy that we write history one more time. It’s a big statement."
Ireland edge past Wallabies
Ireland beat Australia 13-10 in Dublin to make it 12 home wins in a row and complete a hat-trick of southern hemisphere scalps in 2022, after previous wins over New Zealand and South Africa.
It was a tight, often dour affair which appeared to be turned Ireland's way when Bundee Aki went over for a converted try in the 67th minute.
Jordan Petaia responded for Australia shortly afterwards and the teams were locked at 10-10 heading into the closing minutes
The match was then decided when Ross Byrne kicked a penalty from near the touchline with time running out to seal victory for the Irish.
Australia next head to Cardiff to take on Wales, having lost to Ireland, Italy and France, but narrowly beaten Scotland on their autumn tour.
Eddie defends Smith's controversial call to play for a draw
Eddie Jones backed Marcus Smith's decision to settle for a draw after England fought back from 25-6 down with nine minutes left to avoid defeat in stunning fashion against New Zealand at Twickenham.
The England fly-half was booed when instead of going for the win against 14 men, he kicked into touch to settle for a share of the spoils following a thriller.
"It is always up to players mate. I trust their decision-making. I am not on the field. I don't have access to them. I just trust their decision," Jones insisted following the 25-25 draw.
"We're disappointed we didn't win the game but a draw is a draw and the dominance they had in the first half, we could have fell away. You've seen better teams than us fall away against the All Blacks and get beat by 40 or 50 points. I have coached teams that have done that.
"We stayed in the fight, which I think the leadership of the team was outstanding."
England captain Owen Farrell also backed Smith's decision with the clock in the red.
He said: "We wanted to see where we were at off the ruck. If we could go forward, go on the front foot and we had an opportunity, then we wanted to take it. If not we wanted to make a good decision. I think that's what was done."
Russell back as number one No.10
Gregor Townsend admits Finn Russell is the man "in possession" of Scotland's number 10 jersey going into the Six Nations after the fly-half produced a magnificent display in Saturday's 52-29 victory over Argentina.
The Racing 92 stand-off was controversially omitted from the initial squad named last month for the autumn series, with the head coach raising concerns about his "form and consistency" at club level as he instead placed his belief in Blair Kinghorn and Adam Hastings.
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However, Russell, on the back of impressive form at club level and injury to Hastings, was handed a recall to the squad ahead of the third autumn Test against New Zealand last weekend.
After impressing against the All Blacks, the 30-year-old was the man at the centre of Scotland's eight-try triumph over the Pumas as he firmly re-established himself as Scotland's main option at number 10.
"Yes, he's the man in possession," said Townsend. "Finn's played really well the last two weeks and it will take something special from Blair and Adam to change that."
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