For many years now, one of the main talking points in European international rugby has been whether Georgia should be given a chance to take part in the annual Six Nations tournament, with there being a feeling among some that Italy have fallen away from the rest of the top tier and that another team should be given the chance to test themselves in their place.
Were that ever to be ratified, the team that have been tipped to make the step up and who have been pleading for a place in the Six Nations are Georgia, with the Lelos winning each of the last six Rugby Europe Championship titles and showing during their win in Cardiff last autumn that they have the ability to secure results against the continent’s strongest sides.
However, so far, suggestions of the Six Nations being extended or promotion and relegation coming in between it and the tiers below have not been entertained, with many pointing towards Georgia’s overall record against the current Six Nations sides in which they have only won two of their 21 total matches against them (albeit both came last summer against Italy and Wales) and using that to show that Georgia would not fare well in the top tier.
They have also pointed towards the Lelos’ overall low quality of their performances, and, when looking at their displays at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, it is hard to disagree with them, as this tactical analysis will show.
Those who believe that Georgia would be capable of competing in the Six Nations are not entirely wrong though, with there being a number of areas in which the Eastern European side are very strong, and, when they get the detail of their play right, there is no doubt that they are a very dangerous team to come up against.
Their defending in particular has always been impressive when executed correctly, with them having simple tactics and a game plan that revolves around getting up to the ball early and applying pressure on opposing sides in order to take time away from them and to force mistakes. During their time in France, this has been evident in all three matches, and it has led to Georgia gaining opportunities in promising areas of the pitch.
In this case, Portugal are looking to break out from inside their 22m area but have been continually forced back towards their try line, and that is down to Georgia charging forward with numbers every time the ball moves to the next player in the line.
At this point, that pressure finally led to Os Lobos buckling and giving away the penalty that the Georgians had been looking for, with the combined presence of replacement tighthead Guram Papidze and back rower Tornike Jalagonia forcing lock Steevy Cerqueira to go to ground earlier than he would have liked and meaning that Portugal had to do what they could to protect the ball, which here meant sealing it off and not allowing a fair contest.
Whilst this didn’t lead to a try, due to some determined Portuguese defending inside their in-goal area and the ball being held up, it does prove the point that Georgia are a fearsome opponent to come across when everything clicks for them, and that is the key point to take here.
There are just as many positives for Georgia when they are in possession too, with them having players capable of accessing dangerous spaces and of evading tackle attempts in order to make significant territorial gains. In this case, Jalagonia, who was moved to number 8 for the meeting with Fiji, has taken the ball almost up to the try line following some well-executed passing phases, and Georgia look like rewarding their fast start to this game by getting the first points on the board.
However, the Biarritz forward is unable to finish the move off himself due to former Bristol Bears utility back Semi Radradra standing in his way, and so a pass is needed if the Lelos are to get the ball over the line. Fortunately for Jalagonia, he has in-form winger Aka Tabutsadze in support, and so executing a simple pass in his direction will lead to the try being scored.
The problem comes in there though, with Jalagonia almost having too much time and sending the ball forwards as a result, meaning that the opportunity was squandered and the Flying Fijians were let off after enabling the Georgians to get this far up the field, and this is why the Lelos are so frustrating to watch.
What makes this more concerning is that it is not the only time that Georgia have made a mess of promising opportunities, with this situation showing another occasion when they looked like scoring and then made a simple error that brought their attack to an abrupt end.
In this case, it was Australia who they were up against, during the opening weekend of the World Cup, and the fact that the Wallabies have been one of the worst performing nations at the tournament meant that Georgia knew that they could take the game to the former champions and really test their defensive resolve.
This situation was the result of that desire and attacking intent, with Georgia calling for the mark after catching a kick and then setting off early and getting behind the majority of the Australian players before they had realised what was happening.
However, as with the example against Fiji earlier in the scout report, the ball-carrier, in this case Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili, is unable to finish the move off on his own due to Australia getting players in his way and so needs support from someone alongside him.
To Georgia’s credit, they had read what was happening and had two players in good areas to carry on the Lelos’ attack, and perhaps the better option here was for Niniashvili to shift the ball towards the nearside of the pitch where Tabutsadze is waiting, given that he would be able to run onto the ball at pace and would therefore have the momentum necessary to take him towards the try line.
What Niniashvili does though is to panic as soon as Australia scrum-half Nic White goes in to make the tackle, with him simply throwing the ball behind him and sending it into an area where he doesn’t have any teammates. Instead, it lands in the hands of Reds tighthead Taniela Tupou, who then sets up Waratahs back Ben Donaldson to ground the ball over the line and to score one of the easiest tries that the Wallabies will ever score, and one that came entirely through a moment of indecision and poor quality on Georgia’s part.
It is not only in attack that Georgia have been making these costly errors though, with there also being a few question marks over their defensive play at times.
As shown earlier in the analysis, when the Lelos get everything right, they are a side capable of inflicting damage and of making life very tough for their opponents. However, it is rare that they do so, and, more often than not, they are too easy to break down and opponents are given free routes into the areas behind them.
Portugal were one of the main beneficiaries of that, with Os Lobos putting together a typical passing sequence here to move the ball out to the nearside wing and Georgia are moving across to try and prevent them from having any easy routes through to their try line, and it was looking very positive for the defending side as they had a good shape and there were few gaps that the Portuguese players could exploit.
However, the crucial mistake was made here by Bayonne scrum-half Gela Aprasidze moving too far over in his efforts to help Lyon flanker Beka Saghinadze out, as that opened up a gap in their line and handed Portugal winger Raffaele Storti a clear invitation to break through them. The Beziers winger has been in fine form both in the lead-up to and during the World Cup and so does not often need to be asked twice, and his sharp change of direction here allowed him to evade the Georgians’ tackle attempts and to ground the ball in open space, with Niniashvili unable to get across to him in time.
Whilst Storti and Portugal deserve a lot of credit for the desire and quality that they showed in both creating and finishing this move off, there do need to be questions asked of the Lelos, because this lack of line discipline and awareness is not something that they will get away with in the Six Nations. Therefore, if they ever do want to realise their dreams of reaching the top tier of European international rugby, then these situations are what they need to look at and fix as a matter of urgency.
In short, whilst Georgia do undoubtedly have a lot of very talented players in their squad and must be taken seriously, their performances can leave a lot to be desired, and that is what frustrates so many people and is why there are serious doubts over whether they would be able to hold their own if they ever were to be included in the Six Nations tournament each year.
They have not yet won a match at this year’s World Cup and their final chance of doing so comes at the weekend when they face Wales in Nantes, but it is also a last chance for the moment for them to show what they can do on the pitch and why they should be given a chance to play in the top tier of European international rugby. If they are to ever win over their doubters, then a positive result is an absolute must.