Wallabies break Jones drought

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Australia got their World Cup campaign off to a stylish start by recording their first win in Eddie Jones’ second tenure with a dominant performance against Georgia in Paris.

Having come into the France-based tournament on the back of five successive losses, Australia got the Jones-era kickstarted with a bonus-point 35-15 victory over a underwhelming Georgia side at the Stade de France.

There were plenty of impressive performances for the Wallabies, chief among them was rookie fullback Ben Donaldson, who picked up a haul of 25 points. Donaldson had only started one previous Test, in his regular position at flyhalf in 2022, but showed that he could be entrusted with the kicking tee by shrugging off an early miss to kick 15 points to go with his brace.

Australia made a dream start through a try from Jordan Petaia inside the opening two minutes and built on that to take a 21-3 lead into the break.

Georgia hit back early in the second half with a try, but there was little more for the Lelos to shout over as Donaldson grabbed a brace to mark a man of the match performance.

Next up for the Wallabies is a clash against the Flying Fijians, while Georgia will have an opportunity to bounce back against Portugal.

Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

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