Francis’s start last night means that he continues as the most capped Welsh player between the 2015 Rugby World Cup final and going into the second round of the 2019 edition.
Warren Gatland’s side started their Japan tournament with a 43-14 victory over a resilient and giant Georgian side as they scored six tries and sealed a bonus point before half time.
Scores from Jonathan Davies, Justin Tipuric, Josh Adams and Liam Williams put Wales in control at the break and Tomos Williams and George North added further efforts in the second period.
“It was a good first test. It’s been a while since our last game and we’ve been out here in Japan a while,” said Francis, who was part of a strong scrum effort against Georgia.
“We wanted to get out there and play. We knew they would come at us at the scrum and as a tighthead that’s the challenge you want. I relished it and knew what to expect.
“It’s a man test against Georgia. They pride themselves on coming together as eight big men to bully you. You have to stand up to that and I thought in the first half we were good.
“We had that in our locker. The first scrum was in a certain position so we thought we’d have a go, take them on, and go for the double shove.
“You fight fire with fire, you have to take them on at their own game, and we tried to maul and scrum and take it back at them.”
Georgia scored two tries of their own in the second half, but Wales were still convincing winners.
Gatland’s side have now arrived in Tokyo ahead of Sunday’s game with Australia.
There is just a six-day turnaround between Wales’ first two matches.
“Australia beat Fiji at the scrum and the maul so that’s going to be another real challenge for us. It’s a six-day turnaround for us to get the recovery in and be professional,” Francis said.
“It will be an even bigger challenge at the weekend. We watched the Fiji game on the TV so we know it will be a tough challenge.”
Wales tore Georgia to pieces with some sublime attacking play in the first half in Toyota.
Everyone in the Wales camp knows Australia will be an altogether more difficult challenge.
Wales beat the Wallabies in Cardiff when the two sides last met and head coach Gatland said: “I think we can take a lot of confidence from that, they’re a tough side.
“We won a tight contest in the autumn last year. We’ve had some really tight games with Australia over the years. We’ve got to go into that game with a lot of confidence.
“We tend to get better as tournaments go on. We build in confidence.
“We’re pleased with the start and there is a lot of room for us to improve on.
“There are a few things to tidy up on including the breakdown.
“That will be our focus this week.”
Looking back on the win over Georgia, Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones added: “We said in the week we felt a bit held in the blocks.
“I thought we came out in the first half with intent to replicate the training we have had and were very positive.
“We were probably slightly disappointed with the second half in terms of taking out foot off the gas especially in the 22.
“The pleasing points in the game were the set-piece – the scrum and line-out functioned well.
“For us it is just about letting the opportunities go in the second half.”
