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In the first of two Pool D matches on Sunday Georgia are up against Uruguay in Kumagaya. The Lelos are in search of a first win of the competition while the Fiji-slaying Teros are looking to make history in recording their second.
Georgia Head Coach Milton Haig has gone for a massive 12 changes to his side. The new-look team is to be captained by Jaba Bregvadze in his 56th test match. The selection sees Mikheil Nariashvili dropping out of the 23 altogether.
The retained starting players are outside center; Giorgi Kveseladze, fly half Tedo Abzhandadze; and second-rower Konstantine Mikautadze.
Having not played in the loss against Wales regular skipper Merab Sharikadze returns to fitness and will feature as a replacement. He is to be in good company with former captain Mamuka Gorgodze, and star N8 Beka Gorgadze also both on the bench.
Japan 2019 is the third RWC for Bregvadze. The 32-year-old will play hooker, joining props Guram Gogichashvili and Levan Chilachava in the front-row.
Uruguay Head Coach Esteban Meneses has approached the match very differently to Haig. He has retained thirteen starting players from the 30-27 win over Fiji. The decision to do so is to make this match Uruguay’s RWC Final.
Coming off the minimum three rest days, Uruguay had two days less than Georgia to prepare for the match. But with Australia and Wales as the remaining matches the approach is precisely what Uruguay made public months ago.
The two changes from Fiji to Georgia see Juan Pedro Rombys replacing Diego Arbelo at tight head prop; and Alejandro Nieto taken-over from Manuel Diana at N8.
The expected physical showdown has seen Meneses selecting six forwards and just two backs on the bench. Included is Uruguay’s most capped player in history, Diego Magno. He is the reserve second-rower though has many caps at flanker. Both Juan Diego Ormaechea, and Manuel Ardao are replacement flankers.
There have been five prior test matches between Georgia and Uruguay. The first was in Sydney, Australia as part of RWC 2003. On that occasion Uruguay were 24-12 winners. The following year Uruguay were 17-7 winners in Montevideo. Since then Georgia has won all three games. The most recent was a 19-10 win in Tbilisi in 2015.
Results and performances thus far favor Uruguay but rest days favor Georgia. The Lelos go into the match as favorites to win a nail-bitter by 3 points.
TEAMS
GEORGIA
1 Guram Gogichashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze (capt.), 3 Levan Chilachava, 4 Lasha Lomidze, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 6 Shalva Sutiashvili, 7 Beka Saginadze, 8 Otari Giorgadze, 9 Gela Aprasidze, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 11 Alexander Todua, 12 Lasha Malaguradze, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 14 Zura Dzneladze, 15 Lasha Khmaladze
Replacements: 16 Vano Karkadze, 17 Beka Gigashvili, 18 Giorgi Melikidze, 19 Mamuka Gorgodze, 20 Beka Gorgadze, 21 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 22 Merab Sharikadze, 23 Soso Matiashvili
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 German Kessler, 3 Juan Pedro Rombys, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Nicolás Freitas, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Juan Echeverría, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 21 Manuel Ardao, 22 Agustín Ormaechea, 23 Leandro Leivas
Date: Sunday, September 29
Kick-Off: 14:15 local (Saturday 22:15 Pacific, 01:15 Eastern, 02:15 Rio de la Plata)
Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Saitama
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
