The Stade de la Beaujoire has painful connotations for Wales and their followers. I know of people in Llanelli that are still receiving counselling as a result of the final Rugby World Cup pool match that took place on the French Atlantic coast back in 2007.

That game in Nantes was a riot of rampant rugby, and the flying Fijians epic win sent Wales home with their tails, and various other parts of their anatomy, between their legs.

But before the flashbacks get too overwhelming, let’s fast forward to 2023. For Wales fans the rollercoaster they are so familiar with was closed for the weekend. Instead of the usual gut wrenching need of a win to qualify for the knock-out stages, it was a case of whether they would go to a Marseille quarter final as group winners or runners-up, which was probably just as well given their opponents, Georgia, are one of a long line of oval shaped banana skins that have taken the legs from under the men in red over recent years.

Wales and Georgia have a lot in common, they both have a population of around three million, and an historical tradition of vibrant coal and steel industries now sadly defunct.

With players in the starting line up plying their trade at Lyon, Toulouse, Brive, Toulon, Bayonne, Stade Francais and Biarritz, Georgia must have felt quite at home on the banks of the Loire.

But it was the boys from the banks of the River Taff that took home all the prizes, bonus point win, pool winners and unbeaten in the process.

Anyone predicting that a few weeks ago would have been given a wide berth and a very poor sanity rating.

A 43-19 win scoring six tries masks a period of the game where Georgia were in touching distance but Wales pulled away and in the end it was a comfortable victory.

A quarter final awaits next Saturday in Marseille where the opponents are likely to be Argentina or Japan.

Injury worries over Gareth Anscombe and Taulupe Faletau will be cause for concern but for now it’s job well and truly done for Wales.