The penultimate match on an action-packed opening Saturday in the 2023 Rugby World Cup will see Australia taking on Georgia at Stade de France in the first match of Pool C.
Australia come into this match following a 41-17 drubbing by the French over the final weekend of August, while the visitors were beaten 33-6 by Scotland at Murrayfield a day earlier.
Match preview
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The Wallabies head into their first match of the tournament with huge pressure on their shoulders as they are carrying one of the worst records of any tier-one side in the tournament.
Eddie Jones's second stint in charge has been something of a nightmare as the Australians have failed to win any of their last five matches and were the recipients of the wooden spoon at this year's Rugby Championship.
In that competition, the Wallabies were thrashed 43-12 by the Springboks in their first match, but the alarm bells really began sounding a week later when they lost 34-31 to the Pumas in their own backyard.
While they may have taken some confidence from their performance in the second Bledisloe Cup in that time, which they lost by just three points, the Australians were swiftly brought back to reality by Les Bleus a couple of weeks ago at this very same venue.
However, despite the raft of negatives Jones has to deal with right now, the major positives are that his side are drawn in a favourable pool and have a good opening fixture that can allow them to post an early win, which will give him and his players a huge psychological lift.
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Meanwhile, Georgia are carrying very good form into this competition, and while their last match ended in a 33-6 defeat to Scotland, they were leading the match 6-0 at the halftime break.
That loss was the only one they conceded in a nine-match period, and while most of those wins were over tier-two teams, they did manage a very impressive 13-12 win over Wales at the Principality Stadium in November last year.
However, that was not the only win over a tier-one side for Georgia in 2022, as they also recorded an incredible 28-19 victory over Italy just four months earlier.
A key to their success has been their pack, that were far too good for the Welsh and will be raring to go against an Australian frontline that has been somewhat fragile and short of confidence in recent times.
Arguably the best tier-two side in the world right now, Georgia reached their all-time peak ranking this year of 11th, and based on recent form, it would not be a total shock if they were the side to cause the first big upset of the World Cup.
Australia form (all competitions):
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Georgia form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
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Australia received a major boost in the week as Samu Kerevi, who was an injury doubt, was cleared to play and returns to the starting 15 in place of Lalakai Foketi.
Jones has also opted to bring Ben Donaldson and Marika Koroibete back into the starting lineup, with Carter Gordon dropping out, having failed to impress with the boot over the last few months.
Suliasi Vunivalu will be the player to make way for Koroibete, while Will Skelton will captain the Wallabies in this crucial opening match.
Levan Maisashvili has shuffled his pack for this match, with Tornike Jalaghonia moving to blindside flanker to allow Beka Gorgadze to return to the team in the number eight jersey.
The coach confirmed that loose forward Beka Saghinadze has returned to training but is not ready to start, though he could be available for the second match against Portugal.
Merab Sharikadze will skipper the side from centre alongside Demur Tapladze, while Davit Niniashvili will look to influence play from full-back.
Australia starting lineup: 15. Ben Donaldson, 14. Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13. Jordan Petaia, 12. Samu Kerevi, 11. Marika Koroibete, 10. Carter Gordon, 9. Tate McDermott, 8. Rob Valetini, 7. Fraser McReight, 6. Tom Hooper, 5. Will Skelton (c), 4. Richie Arnold, 3. Taniela Tupou, 2. David Porecki, 1. Angus Bell
Replacements: 16. Matt Faessler, 17. Blake Schoupp, 18. Zane Nonggorr, 19. Rob Leota, 20. Langi Gleeson, 21. Nic White, 22. Lalakai Foketi, 23. Suliasi Vunivalu
Georgia starting lineup: 15. Davit Niniashvili, 14. Akaki Tabutsadze, 13. Demur Tapladze, 12. Merab Sharikadze (c), 11. Miriani Modebadze, 10. Luka Matkava, 9. Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8. Beka Gorgadze, 7. Luka Ivanishvili, 6. Tornike Jalaghonia, 5. Konstantine Mikautadze, 4. Nodar Cheishvili, 3. Guram Papidze, 2. Shalva Mamukashvili, 1. Nika Abuladze
Replacements: 16. Tengizi Zamtaradze, 17. Guram Gogichashvili, 18. Beka Gigashvili, 19. Lasha Jaiani, 20. Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 21. Gela Aprasidze, 22. Tedo Abzhandadze, 23. Giorgi Kveseladze
Head To Head
This will mark the second encounter between the two teams, following their initial meeting during the 2019 World Cup group stage, where Australia emerged victorious with a scoreline of 27-8.
We say: Australia 32-13 Georgia
While Australia have been very poor in the build-up to this tournament, they should be too good for Georgia in this one. The Wallabies will need to ensure they do not go behind too early in the match, and if they can successfully navigate the first 20 minutes, we expect them to run out with a fairly comfortable win in the end.
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Devesh Jaganath
