Their 22-9 win over Romania in Tbilisi wrecked the dreams of former Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff and Wales coach Lynn Howells of leading his side into Pool C to set-up a return to home pastures.
“I was really hoping we could have won the game, taken the title and got the chance to play the All Blacks at the Millennium Stadium. It would have been wonderful to get the chance to play in Cardiff again, but we’ve done well to qualify for the World Cup,” said Howells, whose team will now face France, Ireland, Italy and Canada in Pool D.
“Georgia were the better team, they deserved their win, and as the Romanian coach I am a little disappointed with how my team played. Our group for RWC is probably not much tougher than Georgia’s so we still have the chance to do well in England next year.”
Although the host nation for 2015 is England, the Millennium Stadium will stage eight fixtures as rugby’s top tournament returns to the Welsh capital for the fourth time. Cardiff held games in 1991, was the host city in 1999 and also shared fixtures with France in 2007.
Wales have been drawn in Pool A with England and Australia, who they will meet at Twickenham Stadium, but they will play two games at the Millennium Stadium. They face the winners of the Repechage process to find the final team to make up the 25 teams in their opening fixture in Cardiff on September 20.
That could be Russia, who are coached by former Wales back row man Kingsley Jones, or even the loser of the Oceania Final between the Cook Islands and Fiji. The winners of that game on June 28 will also take their place in Pool A and play both Wales and Australia in Cardiff.
2015 Rugby World Cup Matches at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Pool A
September 20 Wales v Play-Off Winner
September 23 Australia v Oceania 1
October 1 Wales v Oceania 1
Pool C
October 2 New Zealand v Georgia
Pool D
September 19 Ireland v Canada
October 11 France v Ireland
Quarter Finals
October 17 Q-F 1
October 18 Q-F 3
