Rugby World Cup 2019: Victory over Australia can give Wales ‘boost’ to reach final in Japan, says Shane Williams

The 2019 Six Nations champions go head to head with the Wallabies at the Tokyo Stadium in a Pool D showdown that will likely decide the winner of their group

Shane Williams, Wales’ record try-scorer, believes victory over Australia on Sunday would give Warren Gatland’s men the “psychological boost” needed to reach the final of the Rugby World Cup.

The 2019 Six Nations champions go head to head with the Wallabies at the Tokyo Stadium in a Pool D showdown that will likely decide the winner of their group.

Both sides came through their opening fixtures – Wales thumped Georgia 43-14 while Australia put in a hard-fought win over Fiji – and now have the chance to place one foot in the competition’s quarter-finals.

Wales have won just once in their last 15 meetings with Australia – a narrow 9-6 victory in Cardiff last Autumn – and have failed to beat the southern hemisphere giants at a World Cup since the inaugural 1987 edition.

Having faced the Wallabies on eight occasions during his international career, Williams is aware of the scale of Sunday’s match and believes the right result could propel Gatland’s side to the latter stages of this year’s World Cup.

When asked if victory would convince Wales they could reach the tournament’s final, Williams told The Independent: “Yes, of course. Both those teams on Sunday believe they’re good enough to win the World Cup, it’s as simple as that.

“If you lose a game like that, it’s going to dent your confidence. You still know you’ve got a chance of qualifying but you’d rather go through a World Cup unbeaten, get to the final and then win it.”

He added: “I think if you win the game, it doesn’t mean you’re in the World Cup final. It means you’ve got a good chance of getting to the quarters.

“However, I think psychologically it’s a massive boost. If you beat a team like Australia in the pool stages, knowing when you get to the quarter-finals that you’ve beaten one of the best teams, it just gives you huge momentum and confidence moving on.”

Williams warned that Wales would need to combat the threat posed by David Pocock and Michael Hooper at the breakdown if they were to stand a chance against Australia.

“The problem they’ve had, and still have, is the breakdown for Wales,” he said. “A lot of turnovers against Georgia. When you’ve got Pocock and Hooper in your team, turnover kings, you’ve got to really deal with those guys as well.

“I think that’s perhaps why you’ve got two 7s playing for Wales in Josh Navidi and Justin Tipuric. those guys are going to be busy. Tipuric was superb against Georgia and that’s what we need against Australia as well.

“They’re one of the best teams in the world, so you’ve got to be good for the full 80 minutes.”

Shane Williams was speaking on behalf of VisitWales.