DAN BIGGAR: It was a huge relief to come through the do-or-die game against Australia… now the boys are off to Disneyland with their €50 spending money!

Wales can book quarter-final against Argentina or Japan by beating Georgia
Welsh players in need of some down time after intense few weeks in France
Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

There was a huge sense of relief in the changing room after we beat Australia and now we can all enjoy a few days off.

Some of the boys are taking their kids to Disneyland Paris, the youngsters are going to Biarritz and Louis Rees-Zammit is heading down to Cannes. We get €50 a day spending money so I’ll be heading home to Toulon to stock up the fridge!

Everyone’s in need of some down time because it’s been an intense few weeks. We’ve had a couple of do-or-die games against Fiji and Australia and we’ve come through both of them.

Sunday night was the first time in a while that we’ve felt like there’s more in us. Being three from three after a pretty painful Six Nations is a real turnaround.

The last three weeks have given the squad a lot of confidence because over the last 12 months we’ve not been used to winning games on the spin. We can top the group by beating Georgia, which gives us a quarter-final against Argentina or Japan in Marseille, but the last thing we want to do is look too far ahead because that’s when you trip yourself up.

Wales flanker Jac Morgan was outstanding in the crushing 40-6 win over Australia on Sunday

Gareth Anscombe’s 23-point haul helped Warren Gatland’s side qualify for the quarter-finals

The Welsh players are in need of some down time after intense few weeks in France

WORLD CUP FACTFILE

4: Wales have now qualified for four successive World Cup quarter-finals under Warren Gatland but they have never reached a World Cup final.

Wales in World Cups under Warren Gatland:

2011: Lost to France 9-8 in semi-finals.

2015: Lost to South Africa 23-19 in quarter-final.

2019: Lost to South Africa 19-16 in semi-final.

17: Wales captain Jac Morgan made 17 tackles against Australia.

The 23-year-old leads the tournament charts with an impressive tally of 44 tackles.

Behind him, there are three players on 37 tackles: Sione Talitui (Tonga), Gareth Thomas (Wales) and Martin Sigren (Chile).

Being brutally honest, we know the better teams are on the other half of the draw. Making the quarter-final is great but we weren’t really celebrating it. I watched Ireland beat South Africa on Saturday night and it was a seriously impressive match. We’re on the underdog side of the draw. We’re not a good enough team yet to be plotting our route through the World Cup on a wall chart! France, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa are the better teams at the moment but if we can get through to a semi-final then you never know what can happen.

I was pretty sore after the match because I strained my pec. It was quite restrictive but I’m sure it will settle down after a couple of days. I’m very optimistic that it will be good for the quarters, possibly for Georgia. Gareth Anscombe was brilliant off the bench, kicking his kicks and making very few errors. The result was never really in doubt after half-time the way he steered the ship.

We’ve built a real squad culture where it’s about having a collective winning ethos rather than individual performances but I want to give a special mention to Jac Morgan.

The boys were telling him to enter the EuroMillions because everything he’s touching is turning to gold. The forward pack were immense and Jac was the standout. His work rate, his energy, his dynamism, his kicking game. He’s grown and grown into that captaincy role and I’m delighted that he’s announced himself on the big stage. It’s a huge job filling Justin Tipuric’s shoes but he’s been brilliant.

While it’s great to be on the winning side, I felt a bit for some of the Australians. They’re in a difficult spot as a team. They’re in a transition period and they’ve got a few issues. I spoke to Carter Gordon after the game and said you’ve just got to ride this out and better days will come.

I didn’t see Eddie Jones after the match but I didn’t like the way he got booed every time he was on camera. At the end of the day he’s a human being. Sometimes he doesn’t help himself but the stick he’s getting is a bit over the top. He’s a big character and I feel for him. We want people to have personalities but as soon as things go wrong then those personalities get jumped on. It feels like a bandwagon. I’m not saying Eddie’s a saint but some of the flak he’s getting is unfair. I didn’t like the reaction whenever he came on the screen, irrespective of which country the supporters were from.

The fans have been amazing, though. No one sings like the Welsh! It was nice to have Prince Albert of Monaco in the changing room after the match. He’s got a couple of Welsh guys in his security team so he came into the changing room. Corey Domachowski is from a little village in the Valleys called Gilfach Goch. We introduced them and Corey said his village is a bit like Monaco, with its own little harbour!

Prince William said he may come back for the Georgia game so hopefully he can bring us a bit more luck!

Australia’s World Cup hopes are now hanging by a thread after the defeat by Wales in Lyon

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