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The mention of Georgia still gives a lot of rugby fans of a certain age chills.
In 2007, Ireland, under Eddie O’Sullivan, beat Georgia in the group stage of the World Cup in Bordeaux, 14-10 in the final score.
It was not pleasant and Ireland exited the tournament after subsequent defeats to France and Argentina.
The good news, we think, is that Ireland won’t have those problems, even with nine changes to the team that lost 18-7 to England last weekend, in this afternoon’s Fall Nations Cup clash against the Lelos. .
Currently ranked 12th in the world, Georgia, under coach Levan Maisashvili, has lost all three of its matches in this window, and its only attempt was in a 48-7 friendly loss to Scotland late last month.
For what it’s worth (nothing?), Before this weekend they co-led the dominant tackling stats in the competition alongside England at 26 – winger Beka Saginadze, the man to watch out for there.
Losses to England (40-0) and Wales (18-0) mean they sit at the bottom of the group in Group A.
Former Ulster coach Neil Doak, who had a stint on Ireland’s backroom team and David Humphreys, former from Ulster, Ireland and Gloucester, where he served as rugby manager for six years, have been drafted into the setup of Georgia in a short -Terms base.
Italy’s woes in the Six Nations, where they haven’t won a game in six years, often throw up hints that Georgia might get invited to the tournament, but Doak acknowledges they need more consistent competition to get close to that level.
“It’s encouraging in such a short time, but playing against teams like Ireland, [Georgia are] nowhere near where they need to be and that’s just a lack of quality competition on a regular basis, “Doak said in the Irish Independent.
“That is the biggest obstacle for Georgia.
“It’s been really good. Over time, the players have improved.
“The cohesion has definitely improved. Levan Maisashvili, the head coach, asked me to tweak some of the attacking stuff and introduce some things; they took it quite well, but I don’t think they got it right.
“I don’t think the scrum and the play went as well as the players would like. They are better than they have shown.
“It’s just a rugby foul, some of the players haven’t played since the last World Cup. It’s quite difficult.”
Ireland remains among the best in the world, insists the Georgian captain
Exposure to some of the best teams in Europe will dampen any expectations of any change in the Six Nations format for a while yet.
Most of the preparation for today’s game, from Ireland’s point of view, has focused on what went wrong last Saturday at Twickenham, the scene of Eddie Jones’ last loss to England.
A poorly thought-out Plan A and a reluctance or inability to switch to some kind of backup plan seems to be the general consensus among a number of former internationals.
The thing about today’s game, which will be Ireland’s fifth time facing Georgia, is that it won’t reveal anything about the essence of the team and where they stand a year after Andy Farrell took over.
“When you lose, learning is very important,” scrum coach John Fogarty said.
“The way we’ve spent our week helping the guys understand and helping us grow as a group has been really good.
“I would hope to see some of the learnings.
“Certainly in our set piece, we want to make sure we put in a good performance.
It’s a revamped team with just six players who would likely start a Six Nations game and still have too much for Georgia, which traditionally brings a strong game forward, little of which has been evident recently.
It’s more playing time for Billy Burns, who will want to secure the backup spot for Johnny Sexton for the spring.
“He can take people on, he’s got a speed spin and a little explosiveness too,” Farrell said of his outer half.
“Hopefully I can contribute a little of that, as well as some guidance to organize the team on the field, because at 10 it is obvious that he will be judged.”
His Ulster clubmate Stuart McCloskey has another chance to impress at the ultra-competitive center position, while Munster’s Shane Daly will likely make his debut off the bench.
“Ireland right now reminds me of a team that is stressed every time they come into contact, they are stressed out when they enter key areas of the pitch,” Donal Lenihan told the RTÉ Rugby podcast this week.
The team really needs to clean up this area today and not do hard work to subdue a second-tier nation.
How they fare against an improving Scotland, which finished second in Group B, next week will provide a more accurate assessment of whether or not the team is on the right track.
Verdict: Ireland for 25
Ireland: Jacob Stockdale, Hugo Keenan, Chris Farrell, Stuart McCloskey, Keith Earls, Billy Burns, Conor Murray; Finlay Bealham, Rob Herring, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson, James Ryan (captain), Tadhg Beirne, Will Connors, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Cian Healy, John Ryan, Quinn Roux, Peter O’Mahony, Kieran Marmion, Ross Byrne, Shane Daly.
Georgia: Soso Matiashvili, Akaki Tabutsadze, Giorgi Kveseladze, Merab Sharikadze (capt), Tamaz Mchedlidze, Tedo Abzhandadze, Vasil Lobzhanidze; Mikheil Nariashvili, Shalva Mamukashvili, Beka Gigashvili, Nodar Cheishvili, Lasha Jaiani, Beka Saginadze, Tornike Jalagonia, Beka Gorgadze.
Replacements: Giorgi Chkoidze, Lexo Kaulashvili, Giorgi Melikidze, Giorgi Javakhia, Mikheil Gachechiladze, Mikheil Alania, Demur Tapladze, David Niniashvili.
Follow Ireland v Georgia through our live blog on RTÉ.ie / sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ One starting at 1:40 PM, or listen to live updates on RTÉ Radio’s Sunday Sport 1.
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