Match Preview – USA vs Georgia

Having beaten Canada in Calgary, the Lelos are now looking to make it a June double in North America before heading south to Argentina. Of course the Eagles have plans of their own and that certainly involves putting a halt to Georgia’s aspirations. In their final warm-up before the World Cup Qualifiers against Canada the Eagles will face the mighty Georgians in a state that should feel like a home away from home – Georgia.

Nine changes in all have been made to the USA side by John Mitchell. Into the front row come Anthony Purpura and James Hilterbrand, and the muscular Ben Landry makes his return to an Eagles shirt after taking the best part of a year off to chase an NFL contract. Todd Clever takes over the captaincy in his 74th cap and Cam Dolan is fit enough to take up his favorite spot at the back of the scrum.

Shaun Davies added tempo to the American attack against Ireland and is rewarded with the start in the No 9 shirt, ousting Nate Augspurger who is shifted to the left wing. Similarly the experiment of AJ MacGinty in the midfield continues with Will Magie in at flyhalf and Marcel Brache on the bench. Bryce Campbell adds physicality at outside center as does another big body in Matai Leuta on the right wing. Mike Te’o moves to his preferred position of fullback.

Georgia might find rain once again in the south but at least it will be warm, unlike the horrendous conditions suffered through in Calgary. Only three changes have been made to the team that blanked Canada. Toulon prop Levan Chilachava returns to the team following the Top 14 final, as does Clermont flanker Vito Kolelishvili. In the backs promising midfielder Giorgi Koshadze will be employed as a winger in place of Soso Matiashvili.

Three further alterations are made to the reserves. Another Toulonnais is added in hooker Shalva Mamukashvili and 20-year-old Lyon prop Tornike Mataradze will provide loosehead cover instead of Karlen Asieshvili. Giant lock Nodar Cheishvili is left out and another 20-year-old in Brive academy loose forward Giorgi Tsutskiridze is added.

There’s no question the Lelos will target the scrum and while Purpura’s return will help the absence of the USA’s most powerful hooker Joe Taufete’e from the lineup is curious. Landry does add considerably more bulk than Nick Civetta and the back row has balance and plenty of lineout height. The Eagles will shine if they can get quick ball and avoid getting in a dogfight with the street savvy Lelo forwards but breaking through what will be a very sturdy defensive line will be a major challenge. Georgia have won three out of the four previous meetings and should be considered favorites despite being away from home.

USA
1 Anthony Purpura, 2 James Hilterbrand, 3 Chris Baumann, 4 Nate Brakeley, 5 Ben Landry, 6 Todd Clever (capt.), 7 Tony Lamborn, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Shaun Davies, 10 Will Magie, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 AJ MacGinty, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Matai Leuta, 15 Mike Te’o

Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Ben Tarr, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Matt Jensen, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Ben Cima, 22 Marcel Brache, 23 Ryan Matyas

GEORGIA
1 Mikheil Nariashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 3 Levan Chilachava, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 5 Kote Mikautadze, 6 Lasha Lomidze, 7 Vito Kolelishvili, 8 Beka Bitsadze, 9 Vaso Lobzhanidze, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 11 Sandro Todua, 12 Merab Sharikadze (capt.), 13 Davit Kacharava, 14 Giorgi Koshadze, 15 Merab Kvirikashvili

Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Soso Bekoshvili, 19 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 20 Otar Giorgadze, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 Lasha Malaguradze, 23 Giorgi Tsutskiridze

Date: Saturday, June 17
Venue: Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Kennesaw
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 PT)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR)
Assistants: Luke Pearce (RFU) & Chris Assmus (RC)
TMO: Neil Paterson (SRU)
Broadcasts: The Rugby Channel