At first glance, this looks like something of a no-win game for Ireland. There's following on from the Springboks victory and the knowledge that Australia arrive six days later. There's the early afternoon kick-off tomorrow against a team ranked 15th in the world. Win well, and it will be considered an easy win over a tier-two nation. Struggle, and reputations will suffer.
So it was when Ireland beat Georgia 70-0 and 63-14 in World Cup qualifiers in 1998 and 2002, and more to the point when just about averting the most ignominious defeat in the history of Irish rugby on that grimly humid night in Bordeaux at the 2007 World Cup when Ireland squad squeezed through a pool game by 14-10.
Indebted
Ireland were indebted to Denis Leamy positioning his body in such a way as to prevent a try and probable defeat in an unbearably scary finale.
The hope must be that the home side will not be similarly grateful to one of the two fellow Tipperary forwards named in the Irish pack, openside Tommy O'Donnell and lock Dave Foley, who is making his starting debut along with Dominic Ryan.
Foley has bided his time behind Donnacha O'Callaghan and Paul O'Connell at Munster and has really impressed with his lineout work and aggression in the last two seasons.
“It’s been a blessing and a curse at the same time,” said Foley in reference to waiting for his opportunity. “I’ve had to wait until I’m the age of 25 or 26. But I think now I’m incredibly well prepared, because I’ve had to wait, first and foremost, but I’ve probably had to learn from some of the best locks in the world.”
Foley and Ryan are amongst Joe Schmidt’s 13 changes for this game with a third potential debutant, Robin Copeland, on the bench. Despite the presence of 10 players in the squad who have captained their province, none are included here, so Eoin Reddan becomes Ireland’s 103rd captain.
The game has sold a record 42,000 tickets against a tier-two nation, so those called in know opportunity knocks.
It was interesting to hear what Schmidt pinpointed as the base starting point for his team come kick-off tomorrow, although it was also unsurprising given Georgia’s renowned scrummaging strength and Ireland’s problems there last week. “I think for us, a really good day at the office would be a solid set-piece.
“We were a little bit frustrated about the set-piece last week. [The plan] would be to build again on our defensive effort. We didn’t actually have a lot of ball to attack with last week, but [it will be good] if there are a couple of micro-plays, or a couple of opportunities that we do get to maximise the potential and the opportunity that we create, and get something for it, whether it’s three, five or seven points.”
From his analysis of the Georgians, and despite their home defeat to Tonga last week, this had echoes of 2007 in Bordeaux, Schmidt said: “They have a physical aggression that can be intimidating. We’ve got to be careful that we don’t allow them to intimidate us, that we can look after the ball and we can ‘aggress’ them to a degree, with good technique and with a good bit of structure, and make sure that our systems are well resourced, that players are on their feet, that they’re contributing.”
Shoulder injury
Georgia head coach Milton Haig and his assistant, former Irish scrum-half and Connacht coach Michael Bradley, have made three changes. The vastly experienced winger Irakli Machkhaneli (capped 73 times), who was Georgia's captain in last weekend's 23-9 loss to Tonga in Tbilisi, misses out with a shoulder injury. Sandro Todua, who plays for Georgian champions Lelo Saracens, replaces him.
Outside centre Davit Kacharava takes over the captaincy, while ex-Edinburgh forward Dimitri Basilaia returns from injury at number eight and Georgi Nemsadze takes over from Levan Datunashvili at lock.
The New Zealander Haig, who recommended Schmidt as his successor as Bay of Plenty coach in 2003, said: “We have prepared well this week. We looked at areas where we can improve from the Tongan game and now we have to make sure we implement our game-plan. We’re all very excited about the opportunity we have and know we must make the most of playing one of the best teams in the world.”
Their legendary backrower Mamuka Gorgodze, who is currently with Toulon, and the Clermont Auvergne tight-head Davit Zirakashvili (concussion) are among the notable absentees, but they have four players who lined out against Ireland in 2007. Fullback Merab Kvirikashvili kicked a penalty and conversion that night, while the other survivors are centre Kacharava, lock Datunashvili and back rower Giorgi Chkhaidze, with the latter two on bench duty this weekend.
Pretty motivated
“I think Milton is a champion bloke,” said Schmidt, who admitted that his coaching job with Bay of Plenty wasn’t what he was looking for at the time. “He is a really good fella and I know that he will be pretty popular with his players. He works hard, he is organised, he is a top bloke. I just know that whatever he asks of his players they will be pretty motivated.”
The same should be true of Schmidt’s newly promoted likely lads, and with Georgia sure to struggle with the pace of Ireland’s game if the home side play with their customary accuracy at the breakdown.
They have the Eoin Reddan-Ian Madigan-Gordon D'Arcy Leinster creative hub and the cutting edge out wide to pull clear. Forecast: Ireland to cover the handicap again
