Last season Wales went into the tournament as the Six Nations Grand Slammers, took a 21 point lead in their opening game against Ireland and lost by a point, 26-25. They then went down to a late penalty, and a single point, 18-17, to New Zealand.
That meant they went into the lower half of the draw from their group and eventually finished in seventh place with a 42-19 win over Scotland. It could have been so different and that’s why Strange and his coaching team have emphasised the importance of focusing on the opening fixture against Australia on Wednesday.
“Preparations have gone well over the past couple of weeks and everyone is excited. We were pleased with the way the Six Nations went and we are now looking forward to the first game against Australia,” said Strange, who left for Tbilisi with the squad on Thursday.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge, but it’s one everyone is excited about. We tried to expose as many players as possible to this level in the Six Nations because what we found at last year’s event was that you can’t have enough depth in your squad when you are playing five games in 23 days.
“One of the big lessons for all of us, players and coaches, last year was you can’t afford to switch off at all. The first game we lost by a point to Ireland, game two we beat Georgia and then the third game we lost by a point to New Zealand.
“Ireland went on to play in the final and did really well. So our message to the players has been every point matters in this tournament – the difference between scoring a try, your points difference and getting an extra bonus point can make the difference between being runners-up in your group or winning it.
“When you get into the last four anything can happen. The standard of this tournament goes up every year and we know we are going to find out a lot about our players both on and off the field.”
After Australia there is the small matter of facing the reigning champions, and 2017 Under 20 Grand Slammers, England. They managed to beat Wales 37-21 in Colwyn Bay and Welsh skipper Will Jones’ squad will have revenge in mind when they meet at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi on Sunday 4 June.
England have won the title three times in the past four years and kick-off their campaign against the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy winners, Samoa. Wales meet the south sea islanders on 8 June.
“We’re not going into this tournament looking for revenge over England because they beat us in Colwyn Bay in the Six Nations. All you can do is focus on the first game and that’s Australia – that’s all that is in the minds of the players and coaches at the moment,” added Strange.
“We learned the importance of the first game last year. Hopefully that will give us decent momentum in the game against England.
“Looking at the conditions we’ll face, and the forecast for the next few weeks in Georgia, our style of play will be perfect. We have done a lot of conditioning work with the players to help them to play at high intensity.
“But we also have the ability to adapt with our pack of forwards if you want to. Overall we want the players to be exposed to a real high standard of rugby.
“We have already watched the Oceania stuff and the Six Nations and it never ceases to surprise the quality of the players. They just seem to be getting younger and younger.
“The top end games against sides like Australia and England can only benefit the players and it is going to be really exciting for them. It is going to come down to fine margins again.”
