[November Tests 2016 EOYT] Scotland vs. Georgia (26/11/2016)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Time: 16:30 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Unfortunate timing for Georgia. Scotland have found some real depth in their squad this year and each young debutant has done well. Even a Scots second XV can be competitive here (if Finn Russell plays). Never thought I'd type that. Georgia's win over Samoa and Japan's quality at the weekend shows Georgia have played decent this autumn. But their back play seems worse than at the RWC and I think they'll be doing very well to keep this inside 25 points. Looking forward to seeing their scrum half against a Tier 1 opponent.

Delighted this fixture is happening though. Hopefully the start of 6N acknowledging the existence of their European neighbours. Would prefer these fixtures to be in the Tier 2 nation though to be more competitive.

 

[RugbyPUBtbilisi]

Allan Dell vs Levan Chilachava
Zander Fagerson vs Mikheil Nariashvili
Gordon Reid vs David Kubriashvili
Moray Low vs Karlen Asieshvili

No offence to Scottish scrum but ... This will be Lelo's only hope for this match...
Mulipola was destroyed by Chilachava and Perenise by Nariashvili. Interesting how Fagerson and Dell will handle the pressure.

Scotland is far better team than 3 years ago. Really strong, well structured, confident team with great players...
This match will be early Christmas for me and many many others.

I hope to see Scotland in Tbilisi before Japan RWC


Greig Laidlaw vs Vasil Lobzhanidze

Some good head to head rivalry. Its interesting how Lobzhanidze will perform against opposite N9 who is experienced, Courageous, fast and skillful.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Scotlands scrum looked surprisingly good even without Nel. It fell away badly after the substitutions though. The thing is, being allowed crooked feeds into the scrum means Scotland will be able to secure ball on their feed even if Georgia are dominant. It is getting harder and harder to convert scrum dominance into points in the modern game.

 

[RugbyPUBtbilisi]

squads are announced:

Nariashvili 1 Allan Dell
Bregvadze 2 Ross Ford
Chilachava 3 Zander Fegerson
Nemsadze 4 Richie Gray
Mikautadze 5 Jonny Gray
Kolelishvili 6 Rob Harley
Gorgodze 7 Hamish Watson
Bitsadze 8 Ryan Wilson

Lobzhanidze 9 Greig Laidlaw
Malaguradze 10 Finn Russeli
Todua 11 Tommy Seymour
Sharikadze 12 Alex Dunbar
Mchedlidze 13 Mark Bennett
Aptsiauri 14 Sean Maitland
Kvirikashvili 15 Stuart Hogg

16 - Alkhazashvili
17 - Asieshvili
18 - Kubriashvili
19 - Lomidze
20 - Tkhilaishvili
21 - Begadze
22 - Tsiklauri
23 - Sutiashvili

16 - Fraser Brown
17 - Alex Allen
18 - Moray Low
19 - Grant Gilchrist
20 - John Barclay
21 - Ali Prince
22 - Peter Horne
23 - Rory Hughes

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Big respect shown by Scotland picking pretty much their first choice. I think they could put on quite a lot of points in the last 20mins. Weather and pitch conditions will also favour Scotland. I'll be keeping fingers crossed for Georgia but think it could be Scotland by 19-21.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Scotland going through the gears nicely

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Scotland put Georgia to the sword a bit but credible from Georgia, particularly for the last 30mins, including some decent play from the backs. Young Georgian scrum half continues to impress. Good atmosphere from the Georgian fans and hopefully more contests against Tier 1 will follow.