Scotland v Georgia - Teams and Prediction
PREVIEW: Scotland will be eager to fine-tune their squad when they host Georgia at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The fixture is the last of three home Tests at Murrayfield before Gregor Townsend’s men take on the Springboks in their World Cup pool opener in Marseille on September 10.
With the focus solely on the big match in France, Townsend opted to field most of his frontline players against Georgia.
Townsend made six changes to the XV that suffered a narrow 27-30 defeat to World Cup hosts France two weeks ago in Saint-Etienne.
Blair Kinghorn, George Turner, Richie Gray, Pierre Schoeman and the suspended Zander Fagerson are the only players not involved at Murrayfield on Saturday.
“The aim is to build cohesion, improve from our last performance and show consistency with selections as we built towards the South Africa game,” Townsend said.
Scotland, who are arguably in the toughest of all four World Cup groups, with Pool B also featuring top-ranked Ireland, Tonga and Romania, have been impressive in the build-up to the global showpiece.
They have shown class against France, nearly securing two wins over the World Cup hosts and a win over Georgia would just boost their confidence.
However, underestimating Georgia could be lethal for Scotland. Georgia have been in great form and have recorded wins over Romania and USA.
Their win over Wales in Cardiff last year clearly showed that they can cause an upset.
“Goergia have built really good confidence,” Townsend said, adding: “They have won 12 of their last 13 matches.
“They know this is an opportunity for them to play a Six Nations which they don’t get often. The last time they did that they beat Wales, so it’s a chance for them to make a statement.
“They are always strong up front, they come from a wrestling background and a lot of the players play in France, so it’s going to be a challenge in the scrums, the line-out ball but also in the tackle area they love the contact.”
Players to watch:
For Scotland: Finn Russell is always a player who can be a major threat. He dictates a game really well, and along with Ben White, who returns from injury, the duo can be dangerous for any opposition. The former Wallaby Jack Dempsey is a real hard worker. His carries are powerful. Wing Duhan van Merve is another game-changer and usually causes havoc outside with his strong runs.
For Georgia: Hooker Shalva Mamukashvili would want to deliver an incredible performance given that he will become the sixth Lelos player to reach a century of caps. It’s a big milestone for the hooker. Props Beka Gigashvili and Mikheil Nariashvili would want to dominate upfront and set the perfect stage for their team. With each game flyhalf, Luka Matkava has grown in confidence and would want to put in another incredible show against Finn Russell.
Prediction
@rugby365com: Scotland by 15 points
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Chris Harris.
Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Merab Sharikadze (captain), 11 Mirian Modebadze, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalaghonia, 7 Mikheil Gachechiladze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Konstantin Mikautadze, 4 Lado Chachanidze, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Tengiz Zamtaradze, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Lasha Jaiani, 20 Sandro Mamamtavrishvili, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Giorgi Kveseladze
Date: Saturday, August 26
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 17.30 (20:30 Georgia standard time; 16.30 GMT)
Expected weather: Rain showers. High of 18°C, with a low of 10°C
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Tual Trainini (France), Ludovic Cayre (France)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (France)
