Ireland expect physical battle from Georgia

Tony Kelshaw

Ireland expect physical battle from Georgia image

Joe Schmidt will discover a bit about his squad's strength in depth after making 13 alterations to the side which beat the Springboks 29-15.

Mike Ross is the sole forward to start again, with Schmidt literally shuffling his pack as debutants Dave Foley and Dominic Ryan feature among those coming in.

Simon Zebo remains in the back line, with Eoin Reddan taking over as captain and Ian Madigan getting the nod at fly-half.

In the centres, Gordon D'Arcy is partnered by Darren Cave, who finally gets to represent his country at the Aviva Stadium after picking up seven previous caps abroad.

"We'd always planned to make a few changes, as we've got a six-day turnaround until we face Australia," said Schmidt.

"Squeezed in between the South Africa game and the Wallabies is going to be another physical battle and to play three in a row would be a big challenge.

"There are a couple of guys backing up who we hope get through okay and for those guys who are getting their first run of this series, it's a fantastic opportunity.

"We've worked hard on our set-pieces to create a good platform to maybe test our opponents and we hope to maintain our defensive intensity."

Foley added: "It's obviously the pinnacle of every young player's career to play for Ireland and I'm looking forward to taking my opportunity."

Fellow rookie Ryan commented: "Every kid dreams of putting on the green jersey and it's great that all the hard work of the last few years has paid off."

Georgia famously gave Ireland a scare at the 2007 Rugby World Cup before succumbing to a 14-10 defeat and can always be relied upon to provide a stiff test up front.

The visitors, who lost 23-9 to Tonga last week, are without Toulon back row Mamuka Gorgodze, Clermont Auvergne prop Davit Zirakashvili and captain Irakli Machkhaneli, but head coach Milton Haig is up for the challenge.

"We have prepared well this week," said the New Zealander. "We've looked at areas where we can improve.

"We're all very excited about the opportunity we have and know we must make the most of playing one of the best teams in the world."

Tony Kelshaw