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Preview: Ireland v Georgia

Clean Slate: It's time for Ireland to break free of the baggage

Brian O'Driscoll and his boys will have more than Georgia on their mind when they lace their boots in Bordeaux on Saturday. Irish fans expect great things from their heroes, but are beginning to suspect they might have peaked a few months too early.

After a pretty limp build-up to this tournament that included a loss to the Scots in Edinburgh, Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan admitted that green socks needed pulling up on arrival in France.

With the terrifying permutations of the 'Group of Death' in mind, he ordered his troops to lay waste to the lowly Namibians in the opener. The idea was to send a clear message of intent to the Pumas and France.

Unfortunately for Ireland, the message that was duly delivered bore all the gravitas of a post-it note.

Despite the back-to-back Triple Crowns and the presence of the marque names, Ireland only managed to scrape a dire 32-17 win over the Africans.

Although that crucial bonus-point was bagged, the writing is now on the wall for the Irish - particularly after the big cats from Argentina landed smack-bang in the middle of the pigeons by seeing off the hosts in the tournament's curtain-raiser.

As O'Sullivan pointed out, one more error-strewn performance could precede Ireland's earliest ever exit from rugby's showpiece event.

Of course, it's hard to imagine a Georgian win at Stade Chaban-Delmas on Saturday - and another error-strewn performance could still see the Irish collect all the points on offer.

But, with the minnows now all but fished, what the Irish need is a massive boost to their confidence ahead of next Friday's crucial encounter with France, and the only result that O'Sullivan will accept on Saturday is a merciless first-rate hammering.

Argentina recorded a 33-3 win over the Lelos on Tuesday, only managing to secure the bonus point in the last move of the match. Surpassing that score will be Ireland's minimum requirement for the game, anything less and the Irish bandwagon might be beyond repair.

Yet perversely, Georgia's decision to make 11 changes to the side that faced the Pumas actually makes Ireland's long-term task all the harder.

In preparation for their crucial clash with the Namibians, the Lelos have opted to field a second-string side against Ireland - a decision that strips that handy gauge from the Irish and leaves them without a proper test ahead of that date with the hosts.

But O'Sullivan was keen to keep the focus on his team on the eve of battle, paying particular attention to space between their collective ears.

"Georgia have chosen quite a different team to play us - but there is a huge difference between their first and second-choice players," he said.

"We know a lot of them play in France here and they will come out of the blocks firing at us and it will not be an easy night.

"But we need to take control of ourselves and not force the game and be patient.

"We can't go into the game with [a poor performance against] Namibia on our backs. If we do, we won't play well.

"We need to clear out the rucks, win quick ball and start playing on the front foot again.

"If we can create quick ruck ball, then you'll see a completely different Ireland team."

Meanwhile, Georgia captain Ilia Zedginidze is hoping to show not only the Irish but his own country and the International Rugby Board (IRB) that his side deserves to be playing at the highest level.

Zedginidze has urged organisers not be persuaded by calls to reduce the number of teams competing at the tournament in a bid to make it more competitive.

The 'Lelos' would be among the emerging nations struggling to qualify for a reduced 16-team competition if the IRB did decide to alter the format.

So far this month the likes of Georgia, Namibia, Portugal and Romania have acquitted themselves well in contests that were perceived to be mis-matches.

And Zedginidze insists the only way they will develop into second or even first tier rugby nations is through the exposure provided by the World Cup.

"Rugby is becoming more and more popular in Georgia," said the Auch flanker-cum-back row, who made his Test debut against Ireland in 1998

"After the first World Cup finished we had more people playing the sport at lower levels - and we also began to produce more professionals.

"Now most of the players in our squad are professional and compete in Europe.

"Rugby is a respected sport in Georgia and we want to fill the nation with pride, so it's important to do well at the World Cups.

"The internal championship isn't very popular but when the national team play there are always huge crowds coming to watch.

"The World Cup is crucial to this because it increases the sport's popularity and that means we get more attention from the government.

"We need funding and structures put in place and the publicity helps with that. At the moment there are only eight rugby pitches ion Georgia.

"We know that when we play Ireland we are not only playing to win on the pitch, but also to show the world the potential we have.

"We want people to think that maybe we can become an established nation. And, of course, if we play well even more people will want to play in Georgia.

"The World Cup is so important to our development. If the World Cup is played with less teams, then sides like us will find it harder to grow.

"On Saturday we'll try and play like the Namibians did [against Ireland] and put pressure on Ireland to see how they react.

"We are confident about the game and we are ready for Ireland, but I can't imagine they'll play like that against us."

Players to watch:

For Ireland: The return of Shane Horgan will bring a smile to Irish eyes. The big Leinster man is often overshadowed by the stellar presence of the likes of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy, but his worth to the team has become patently obvious in his absence.

For Georgia: Pau fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili is the only back to retain his place in the re-jigged team. His big boot and territorial nous asked plenty of tough questions of the Argentinians; all of Georgia will be hoping he can do the same against the Irish.

Head to head: Pack v Pack: Georgia's giants stood toe-to-toe with their powerful Argentine counterparts last week, and they will sense this is an area they can boss against the Irish. Ireland, for their part, desperately need to toughen up in preparation for those crunch encounters with France and Argentina and will welcome the challenge in the tight.

Previous results:

2002: Ireland won 63-14 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin
1998: Ireland 70-0 at Lansdowne Road, Dublin

Prediction: The men in green to finally steady the ship. Ireland by 45 points.

Ireland: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Neil Best, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Geordan Murphy.

Georgia: 15 Otar Barkalaia, 14 Giorgi Elizbarashvili, 13 Revaz Gigauri, 12 Davit Kacharava, 11 Giorgi Shkinin, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 7 Rati Urushadze, 6 Ilia Maisuradze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Ilia Zedginidze, 3 Avtandil Kopaliani, 2 Goderdzi Shvelidze, 1 Mamuka Magrakvelidze.
Replacements: 16 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 17 David Khinchagashvili, 18 Levan Datunashvili, 19 Zviad Maisuradze, 20 Irakli Abuseridze, 21 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 22 Otar Eloshvili.

Date: Saturday, September 15
Kick-off: 21:00 (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Conditions: Clear, dry, light northerly winds - max 28°C, min 17°C
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Touch judges: Malcolm Changleng, Paul Marks
Television match official: Federico Cuesta
Assessor: Tappe Henning