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Wales have 'drawn a line in the sand' over Howley controversy - Gatland

Wales head-coach Warren Gatland says he's relieved that his side have opened with a bonus-point ...



Wales head-coach Warren Gatland says he's relieved that his side have opened with a bonus-point victory at the Rugby World Cup, just a week after assistant coach Rob Howley was sent home from the tournament for alleged breaches of betting regulations. 

The Grand Slam champions eased to a 43-14 win over Georgia at the City of Toyota Stadium.

George North, Tomos Williams, Jonathan Davies, Justin Tipuric, Josh Adams and Liam Williams all ran in tries, with a bonus-point secured by half-time.

"You just have to draw a line in the sand and move on. You can't change the past and what has happened. You have to look forward," Gatland said when asked if the Howley situation had been a distraction heading into the tournament.

"I said to the players beforehand, I thought they've been outstanding this week. The way they have prepared for this match, the way they've trained. It was definitely strange without him.  You've just got to give Stephen Jones as much support as you possibly can. He has fitted in seamlessly. He's been doing a good job."

"We have been watching the games the last few days, and the guys were itching to get on the field. I'm pleased with our first-half performance - we were pretty clinical - but we let things slip in the second half. We lost some continuity by making some changes and keeping players as fresh as we can."

Wales beat Australia on their last meeting 10 months ago, and he hopes that will help his team going into the crunch clash with the Wallabies:

"I think we can take a lot of confidence from that. They are a tough side. We've had some really tight games with them over the years. We've got to go into that game with a lot of confidence."

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