Now We Must Up Our Game For England

Well it was a win and a win is what Wales will take right now. It would have been unthinkable to lose to Georgia and thankfully that fate was avoided.

- Shane Williams

I must admit I was very nervous about this game, especially when I saw the pre-match conditions at Parc y Scarlets. It was your typical lovely winter’s night in Llanelli! The wind was up there and the rain was driving in almost horizontally. It played right into the hands of the giant Georgians.

There was plenty of youth in the Wales side which I was pleased to see and I thought Louis Rees-Zammit, James Botham and Johnny Williams all had decent games. I’ve banged the drum for Louis to play for a long time now and he had a really good match.

It was not a night for wingers, but he finished his try really well and also defended very stoutly. He did the basics like kicking very well indeed and he can be very pleased with his night’s work.

I couldn’t believe Botham started the match. What a rise he has had. I’m not sure what he was doing on the wing so often if I am honest. If I’d been a winger playing in the match, I’d have told him to get lost and go and do what he does best in the tight exchanges.

When he did get involved, James was excellent. There was a lot of talk about his famous family in the build up to this game, but we must let him carve out his own career. I’m sure the family will be very proud and I thought there was even going to be a debut Botham try when he raced clear down the wing. Well done James and I’m sure there is more to come.

More about Williams now. He has an amazing story to tell having survived and beaten testicular cancer and he was excellent against Georgia and deserves to keep his place.