Richie Dixon insists Georgia are up for Sunday's clash with England as they seek to put their Scotland disappointment behind them.
Coach eyeing improved Georgia show against England
Georgia coach Richie Dixon insists his side are up for Sunday's clash with England as they seek to put their Scotland disappointment behind them.
Dixon's side failed to establish the scrum dominance everyone expected against the Scots on Wednesday night and eventually slipped to a 15-6 defeat.
Dixon, the former Scotland international and head coach, has now brought tighthead prop David Kubriashvili, who has been keeping Carl Hayman out of the Toulon team, into the starting line-up, along with 64-cap lock Ilia Zedginidze.
He has also reshuffled Georgia's bench to include five forwards as the Lelos seek to erase the Scotland disappointment.
"These guys are up for this game because they are so disappointed with themselves. I can tell you they are so disappointed with their display against Scotland," said Dixon.
"Our scrummaging was not as solid as it usually is and our lineout play was not as accurate as we normally expect and we hardly ever got into any attacking phase at all.
Credit
"The one thing that was obviously to our credit was our defence, which was very, very good. It had to be.
"We have to start to believe that we can play the way we train. Against Scotland we did not play, in terms of our attacking abilities, in the way that we had been training.
"England will understand that they have to perform."
While England last played on Saturday and have spent this week in Queenstown, Georgia face the tough challenge of a four-day turnaround.
"It's something we would certainly need to flag up to World Cup tournament organisers for future tournaments, especially in the first round," said Dixon.
"All those supposed tier-two people actually gave a very good account of themselves.
"But the attrition rate of these short turnovers could have a debilitating effect on us later on in the tournament."
Georgia team to face England: R Gigauri; I Machkhaneli, D Kacharava, T Zibzibadze, A Todua; M Kvirikashvili, I Abuseridze (capt); D Khinchagishvili, J Bregvadze, D Kubriashvili, I Zedginidze, V Maisuradze, S Sutiashvili, M Gorgodze, D Basilaia.
Replacements: A Giorgadze, D Zirakashvili, L Datunashvili, G Chkhaidze, B Samkharadze, G Berishvili, L Khmaladze.
