Georgia name 32 man provisional squad

[psychic duck]

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Georgia are the penultimate side to name some sort of squad leading up to the World Cup, the only remaining nation not to do so is Namibia. The squad has 23 France based players in it, 8 of whom play in the Top 14. The squad play three warm up matches against Top 14 sides Clermont, Montpellier and Toulon.

Georgia have a lot of depth in the front row, players such as Giorgi Jgenti who was Montpellier's first choice tighthead miss out along with Irakli Natriashvili of Brive and Anton Peikrishvili of Castres. The star player in the squad is Mamuka Gorgodze sometimes called "Gorgodzilla" who has been making waves in France with Montpellier and was the first Georgian rugby player to be sports knighted in Georgia by the government.. Also Davit Kubriashvili who keeps Carl Hayman out of the Toulon team and became the first Georgian to represent the Barbarians in June, and he'll be in stiff competition with Davit Zirakashvili who has been playing with Clermont for a number of years. Georgia's strength lies in the form of massive front five which gave Ireland a scare at the last World Cup, the backs aren't so strong as one can tell by the clubs they play for, but Lasha Malaguradze helped to get Béziers promoted into the ProD2 under the tutelage of former All Black Andrew Mehrtens who he plays alongside at inside centre, and even nudged him out of the side for the knockout rounds of Béziers' return to ProD2.

Georgia have been the strongest non 6 nations European team over the past couple of seasons and their ranking has risen up to 14th just two places behind Italy, and I think deserve a chance to play the likes of Italy, Scotland, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa in the Autumn Internationals. A strong performance against England, Scotland and Argentina at the World Cup will only help their cause. England thrashed them 84-6 in the 2003 World Cup, I would expect they'll find a much harder side to face now 8 years later.

Georgia's 32 man squad:

Looseheads:
Vasil Kakovin (Brive, Top 14, France)
Davit Khinchagashvili (Brive, Top 14, France)
Goderzi Shvelidze (Montpellier, Top 14, France)

Hookers:
Jaba Bregvadze (Army, Premier Division, Georgia)
Akvsenti Giorgadze (unattached - played for Castres last season will retire after the World Cup)

Tightheads:
Davit Kubriashvili (Toulon, Top 14, France)
Davit Zirakashvili (Clermont, Top 14, France)

Locks:
Levan Datunashvili (Aurillac, ProD2, France)
Vakhtang Maissuradze (La Seyne, Fédérale 1, France)
Giorgi Nemsadze (Montauban, Fédérale 1, France)
Ilia Zedginidze (Carqueiranne-Hyères, Fédérale 2, France)


Flankers:
Givi Berishvili (Locomotivi, Premier Division, Georgia)
George Chkhaidze (Montpellier, Top 14, France)
Viktor Kolelishvili (Clermont, Top 14, France)
Shalva Sutiashvili (Massy, Fédérale 1, France)

Number 8's:
Dimitri Basilaia (Aubenas, Fédérale 2, France)
Mamuka Gorgodze (Montpellier, Top 14, France)
Zviad Maissuradze (Locomotivi, Premier Division, Georgia)

Scrum Halves:
Irakli Abusseridze (Auxerre, Fédérale 3, France)
Giorgi Begadze (Kochebi, Premier Division, Georgia)
Bidzina Samkharadze (Army, Premier Division, Georgia)

Fly Halves:
Lasha Khmaladze (Lelo, Premier Division, Georgia)
Merab Kvirikashvili (Figeac, Fédérale 2, France)
Lasha Malaguradze (Béziers, ProD2, France)

Centres:
Revaz Gigauri (Figeac, Fédérale 2, France)
Sandro Todua (Lelo, Premier Division, Georgia)
David Kacharava (Nice, Fédérale 1, France)
Tedo Zibzibadze (Périgueux, ProD2, France)

Wingers:
Irakli Chkhikvadze (AIA, Premier Division, Georgia)
Lexo Gugava (Lelo, Premier Division, Georgia)
Irakli Machkhaneli (Mâcon, Fédérale 1, France)

Full Back:
Malkhaz Urjukashvili (Figeac, Fédérale 2, France)

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Couldn't one of the tightheads play loosehead? I'm a fan of those two, would be a shame to leave one out.