Georgia coach calls for improvement against England

Georgia coach Richie Dixon anticipates a war of attrition against England on Sunday – and he has reinforced his pack ready for a battle royale under the Otago Stadium roof.

Tighthead prop David Kubriashvili, who has been keeping Carl Hayman out of the Toulon team, comes into the starting line-up along with 64-cap lock Ilia Zedginidze.

Georgia failed to establish the scrum dominance everyone expected against Scotland on Wednesday night and eventually slipped to a 15-6 defeat.

But Dixon, the former Scotland international and head coach, has signalled his intent by reshuffling Georgia’s bench to include five forwards as the Lelos seek to erase that disappointment.

“These guys are up for this game because they are so disappointed with themselves. I can tell you they are so disappointed with their display against Scotland,” said Dixon.

“Our scrummaging was not as solid as it usually is and our lineout play was not as accurate as we normally expect and we hardly ever got into any attacking phase at all.

“The one thing that was obviously to our credit was our defence, which was very, very good. It had to be.

“We have to start to believe that we can play the way we train. Against Scotland we did not play, in terms of our attacking abilities, in the way that we had been training.

“England will understand that they have to perform.”

While England last played on Saturday and have spent this week in Queenstown, Georgia face the tough challenge of a four-day turnaround.

“It’s something we would certainly need to flag up to World Cup tournament organisers for future tournaments, especially in the first round,” said Dixon.

“All those supposed tier-two people actually gave a very good account of themselves.

“But the attrition rate of these short turnovers could have a debilitating effect on us later on in the tournament.”

Georgia team for the Rugby World Cup Pool B match against England at Dunedin's Otago Stadium on Sunday, September 18 (kick-off 7am Irish Time):

R Gigauri; I Machkhaneli, D Kacharava, T Zibzibadze, A Todua; M Kvirikashvili, I Abuseridze (capt); D Khinchagishvili, J Bregvadze, D Kubriashvili, I Zedginidze, V Maisuradze, S Sutiashvili, M Gorgodze, D Basilaia.

Replacements: A Giorgadze, D Zirakashvili, L Datunashvili, G Chkhaidze, B Samkharadze, G Berishvili, L Khmaladze.