Georgian national rugby union team promises fans to play well on “Mikheil Meskhi” tomorrow. If they do it, there will be lots of tries. Head coach Milton Haig who held the press conference alone stated the team is not going to play for bonus point. The goal of the team is to fulfill instructions on high level.
“Of course, we will play for victory but nobody thinks about bonus point. The most important is to fulfill our instructions on high level. If we do everything well, we will deserve bonus point. My only concern is the field. It is soft and it slips. I hope, it will be in better condition tomorrow.
As for the changes in the staff, unlike the previous match we added two players to the team. There are a lot of changes in lineup. I think, Kakovin and Kubriashvili deserve to be on the field from the beginning. Belkania practiced well. We decided to give him a chance. Some micro traumas played role in the changes.
Some rugby players and I remember failure against Spain last year. We will try to show our real strength to the opponent. Chkhaidze had busy schedule and that is why, we added Datunashvili. He is an experienced rugby player. Besides it, we will hold another game in Romania in one week”.
It was stated that the match against Spain will be farewell for captain Irakli Abuseridze. It will be the 85th “Lelo” for him tomorrow. Davit Kacharava will hold the 60th match and Mamuka Gorgodze – the 50th match. If Zurab Zhvania plays in tomorrow’s match, it will be his debut in the national team.
After Haig, Bryce Bevin, New Zealander coach of the Spanish team, and captain Jon Magunazelaia held the press conference: “We beat the Georgian team one year ago but that match was not so important. We were happy to win that match but it does not mean anything before tomorrow’s match”.
Bryce Bevin: “In spite of unstable play, I think, we could have beat Russia and Belgium. If we had played better, we could have had another result against Romania. There are some reasons of the changes. French coach had naturalized French rugby players who did not want to play for the national team now. I changed some rugby players and there were injuries too.
Spanish sevens team participates in World Series and 12 rugby players have contracts with the union. We try to have balance and it causes some problems. I have watched all matches of the Georgian team since November. I think, your coach also watched our matches. We know how the Georgians will play”.
Irakli Abuseridze: “Unfortunately, the day has come and I have to quit playing. As for tomorrow’s match, it will be very tough. Spain is very awkward opponent for us. We have to take revenge over it and we will do our best”.
Tomorrow it will be cloudy day in Tbilisi. Weather temperature will be 16 celcius. Ticket prize is 5 GEL. I think, Abuseridze and the whole team deserve to crowd the tribunes. Irish referees will judge the match.
Portugal - Russia
Belgium - Romania
| 1 | Georgia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 65-34 | 12 |
| 2 | Romania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 73-42 | 12 |
| 3 | Portugal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 43-56 | 5 |
| 4 | Belgium | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 46-56 | 4 |
| 5 | Russia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 36-61 | 4 |
| 6 | Spain | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 45-59 | 3 |
March 16
Romania - Georgia
Spain - Portugal
Russia - Belgium
Zura Ksovreli
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