It took Wales only two minutes to show they had overcome the drama of their former attack coach being sent home amid a betting probe as they opened their Rugby World Cup campaign Monday night with a 43-14 win over Georgia in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.

Jonathan Davies sliced through a huge hole in the Georgia midfield to score the opening try as the Welsh seemed to have put aside the Rob Howley affair to pick up an opening win in Pool D, a group that also includes Australia, Fiji and Uruguay.

Justin Tipuric, Josh Adams and Liam Williams also touched down in the first half as Wales made sure there was never any chance of the upset the neutrals in the crowd were hoping for.

However, there is still plenty for new attack coach Stephen Jones to work on -- not to mention their defense coach -- as the Six Nations champions struggled for much of the second half.

"We came out of the blocks as we wanted in the first half," said Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones.

"We're probably a bit disappointed with the second half, we left a couple of tries out there. The overall feeling is we took our foot off the gas a bit in the second half. It's a good result, but there's plenty to work on."

(Josh Adams of Wales runs with the ball on his way to scoring a try.)

Wales were quite clearly the favorites at City of Toyota Stadium according to both form and the crowd judging by the volume of the respective national anthems, and it only took two minutes to show why as Davies ghosted over.

Dan Biggar hit the post with the conversion from in front of the posts but his radar was soon working as he added a penalty in the sixth minute.

Tipuric's try came from a good break by Adams, who added the third in the 20th minute following a weaving run from 45 meters out as the Georgians initially appeared shell-shocked.

With a small band of Georgian fans gradually getting the neutrals among the crowd of 35,545 to add their support, however, the Lelos slowly played themselves into the game with veteran flanker Mamuka Gorgodze showing why he was asked to come out of international retirement.

The Welsh defense held firm though and the half closed as it started with Davies easing past defenders on his way to setting up Williams for Wales' fourth try as the teams turned around with the score 29-0.

With the bonus point in the bag, Wales went off the boil in the second half.

Georgia's efforts were rewarded within two minutes of the restart with Shalva Mamukashvili touching down following a good driving maul.

They then kept Wales scoreless for the next 22 minute, before Tomos Williams' try ensured there would be no fairytale comeback, the replacement scrumhalf making the most of a good kick ahead by George North.

Georgia, however, were not done, and Levan Chilachava powered over to ensure Milton Haig's team finished with 14 more points than their last visit here -- in June 2018 when they were beaten 28-0 by Japan.

North and Wales, however, had the last say, with the wing benefitting from some good work from Tomos Williams.

"You can't make mistakes and chase a 29-point lead," rued Haig, who will take over Top League side Suntory Sungoliath following the tournament.

"At halftime we told the boys to reset the button and play 0-0 rugby...(And) we showed the typical Georgian fighting spirit that we're known for."

Australia, whom Wales face on Sunday, and Fiji will have been looking on with interest.

"Australia is going to be tough," said Wales coach Warren Gatland. "It's going to be a big game. We've got a couple of days off and then we'll plan and have a couple of good days training before the match."