Swirling winds, heavy rain and a stout Georgian defense made Australia's path to a third win at the Rugby World Cup in Japan a difficult one, but the Wallabies prevailed 27-8 to move into the quarterfinals on a positive note.

Scoring four tries to one but largely failing to convert possession and field position into points in conditions perfectly suited to the all-powerful Georgia pack, the Australians can now turn their minds from Pool D to likely knockout phase foes England.

With typhoon Hagibis bearing down on eastern Japan, the players were faced with very wet and wildly gusting conditions at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, the weather proving unconducive to expansive rugby and leading to some messy moments.

"Our first half was better than our second half, but we scored more points in the second half which is not really sensical, I suppose, but that comes with fatigue and the opposition," said Australia coach Michael Cheika.

(Nicholas White opens the scoring)

Already qualified for the quarterfinals, the bonus-point win puts Australia to the head of their pool with 16 points but Wales need just three against Uruguay on Sunday in Kumamoto to retake the lead.

"I thought it was a good challenge, thought our forwards stepped right up to it," said Cheika. "We know how effective the Georgian scrum can be. We handled that pretty well."

"We scored a maul try, could have done a bit better on those, we stayed a little more disciplined (and) our lineout worked. It was always going to be one of those kind of nights with the conditions, it was a good hit out."

Georgia's defense was nothing short of spectacular against the pedigreed Australians, they finished with 201 tackles to their opponents' 46.

"That is who we are, we will keep fighting to the end even when the odds are against us, I was really proud," said Georgia coach Milton Haig.

Related coverage:

Rugby: Japan reaching q'finals would be win for all Tier-2: Gold

Rugby: War of words escalates surrounding Scotland-Japan clash

Rugby: Samoa playing for World Cup pride against Ireland

"I can't fault the boys for how they put themselves about defensively."

The Lelos will leave Japan with their heads held high. The loss means they finish fourth in their group at best, however, and miss automatic qualification to the next World Cup.

Australia dominated possession and territory in the first 20 minutes. The Georgians tackled like madmen, but eventually Nicholas White punctured the line.

White dummied then ducked under the Georgian defenders to get the first five-pointer, nabbing the first points of the game to convert a period in which the Georgians had made more than 100 tackles and Australia fewer than 20.

(Matt To'omua coverts)

After the conversion, Georgia made a foray into Australian territory and came away with their first three points when Tolu Latu was pinged for a high tackle.

Matt To'omua got the seven-point gap back with an impressive long penalty kick in the swirling winds, hitting it sweetly and putting it dead-center between the posts.

It took until the 59th minute for Australia to get their second try, Marika Koroibete picking up a bouncing ball and slicing his way through a scrambled defense, his burst of speed all the more spectacular due to it coming in a game which had seen little like it.

About 10 minutes later, Georgian flyhalf Lasha Khmaladze darted through and put Alexander Todua into space, and the winger did the rest, flying down the left and touching down to make the score 17-8.

Australia put the game out of reach when they mauled over the line in the 74th minute, Jack Dempsey credited with the five points, before Will Genia backed up well to score the game's final try with the last play of the game.

With the Lelos done for the tournament, Haig is bidding farewell to Georgia, the Kiwi's time coaching the team coming to an end.

In an emotional moment, Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze would not let it go unmentioned, extending the team's final press conference a little to show his gratitude to the man who has coached the Lelos since 2011.

"I want to say thank you to Milton. He has done a lot of things for Georgia. He had a big influence in developing the Georgia rugby squad," he said.

"Thank you for what you have done for me, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be sitting here now."