Wednesday 16 October 2019 07:15, UK
Sky Sports Rugby's resident stats guru, Rhodri Jeremiah, takes a closer look at all the stats from Wales' final Pool win over Uruguay and their World Cup in general before facing France in the quarter-finals...
Wales completed their pool stage campaign with a bonus-point 35-13 win over Uruguay in Kumamoto last weekend and will face France in the third quarter-final this coming Sunday.
Despite the bonus-point victory, Wales went into the break with only a one-point advantage at 7-6 in an error-strewn first-half performance. However, the second half was slightly more convincing and three tries in the final quarter put the gloss on the final score.
Warren Gatland made 13 changes to the side that beat Fiji with Josh Adams and Hadleigh Parkes being the only two that retained their jerseys. Adams is currently sitting on top of the try-scoring chart alongside Japan's Kotaro Matsushima - they've both scored five tries each.
The Hendy-born wing now only needs two more tries to beat Shane Williams' record of most tries scored by a Welshman in a single World Cup. Williams currently tops the tree having scored six in the 2007 campaign. Jonah Lomu (1999), Bryan Habana (2007) and Julian Savea (2015) have scored the most out of anyone in a single campaign with eight tries apiece.
In this tournament, the Hendy Harrier - as we've decided to coin him - has started all four matches, made the most line breaks of anyone in the tournament with 13, and has made an average of eight carries and 64 metres per game so far.
Despite Adams' impressive numbers, last Sunday's overall team performance does emphasise the importance of key players such as Alun Wyn Jones, Gareth Davies and Liam Williams to name just a few. The term strength in depth is often banded around in rugby but it's a luxury that Gatland doesn't have at his disposal. A key injury here or there for Wales, and it's a potential tournament ender for them. England or New Zealand for example, don't have that dilemma.
On a positive note, Wales go into the knockout stages having won all four of their pool games, and should have a squad at full strength with Jonathan Davies, Dan Biggar and George North all reportedly back in training.
Wales have only once topped their pool before in World Cup history and that was back in 1987. That year they beat England in the quarter-final, lost to New Zealand in the semi before recording a 22-21 win over Australia in the third-place play-off.
Wales' inspirational leader Alun Wyn Jones recently told the players: "We've got 240 minutes left to achieve something special." Judging by that quote, a third-place play-off would seem like unfinished business. There's an air of confidence with this Welsh set-up, which is definitely a positive for any side at this stage of a World Cup. This team, in particular, thinks that they can go all the way.
Wales have only faced France once before in the history of the World Cup and that was in the 2011 World Cup semi-final and we all know how that ended. However, in recent times, Wales have won seven of their last eight meetings against the French in the Six Nations and overall, they've won 50 of their 97 meetings dating back to 1908.
There's always an unpredictability about the French, they play with flair and always with a certain joie de vivre. Who knows which French side will turn up in Oita on Sunday - there's been talk of a rift in the camp - but let's be brutally honest: that often happens with France in a World Cup.
Worryingly for Wales, it often makes them play better and not vice-versa.
Focusing back to Wales, as far as the World Cup has gone so far for the men in red, it's a case of job done, now bring on Les Bleus and the business end.
