Georgian national rugby union team expects another exam on Saturday. On November 24 the Georgians will play against the Fijians at 15:00 on “Mikheil Meskhi”. The upcoming match is important for the both teams.
The Georgian and Fijian teams have 3-3 failures in a row and now they will try to change the situation. This year’s matches are coming to an end. It is the last match of these teams this year. The both teams want to finish the year with victory.
The national teams lost 3-3 matches in a row but it harmed Georgia most of all. The Georgians lost to the USA 20:36 and to Canada 12:31 in June. One week ago Georgia lost to Japan 22:25. All three matches were important and Georgia lost points. Our national team is in the 17th place now. Fiji lost three matches on European tour – to England 12:54, to “Gloucester” 29:31 and to Irish “A” team 0:53. But they did not lose points.
Before the upcoming match, the Georgian team is in the 17th place with 66,75 points. Fiji is in the 14th place with 70,60 points. If “The Lelos” will win with a little difference (up to 15 points) on November 24, they will earn 1,085 points. In case of winning with more than 15 points, they will earn 1,627 points. We will earn points in case of draw too – 0,085. In case of losing with a little difference, we will lose 0,915 points. In case of losing with more than 15 points, we will lose 1,373 points. I cannot say what it will change in the ranking because Romania which is behind us will play against the USA which is ahead of us.
One thing is obvious that the Georgian national team will not take better position than the 16th place this year. If we beat Fiji, it will have more ranking points than us. The 15th-placed Japan has 70,09 points after winning in Tbilisi. It is impossible to overtake it.
After losing to Japan, Milton Haig made three changes in lineup. The Zealander did not make changes in the back line. Kote Mikautadze will substitute Giorgi Nemsadze in the second line. The first liners Shalva Mamukashvili and Davit Zirakashvili will be substitutes. Irakli Natriashvili and Davit Kubriashvili will substitute them. Zirakashvili hurt his leg in the match against Japan. He did not practice with the team.
Fiji is not a grand team but it is one of the valuable teams in the world. The team did not participate in World Cup in 1995. It overcame the group stage twice from 6 tries – in 1987 and 2007. The Fijians beat Australia twice, Italy four times, Argentina, Wales and Scotland once.
Recently this team was unsuccessful but it was caused by the situation in the country. Military coup occurred in Fiji and it effected on the development of rugby in the country. The Fijian rugby players go to other countries, receive their citizenship and play for other teams. The Fijian rugby players have played for New Zealand and Australia.
The Fijian team is more successful in 7’s rugby. The team became world champion twice – in 1997 and 2005. Fiji is always participating in World Series of 7’s rugby. This year the team took the second place after New Zealand. There are many legionaries in the Fijian team. They play for the clubs of England, Wales, France and Scotland.
This year the Fijian team held seven matches. At Pacific Ocean Cup the team beat Japan 25:19 and Tonga 29:17 but lost to Samoa 26:29. In June Fiji lost to Scotland 25:37 and unsuccessfully competed in the British tour. These three matches show that the Fijians are dangerous in match debuts.
The Fijian team arrived in Tbilisi with its delegation (35) on November 18. They started practicing on “Avchala” stadium. Georgian champion “Armia” was their opponent. The match will start at 15:00 Tbilisi time on “Mikheil Meskhi”. Before that, the Fijians will dance their traditional fighting dance “Sibi”. I hope, more spectators will attend this match.
The Georgian team has not held a match against Fiji before. Our national team played against islanders three times. In 1999 Tongan team beat us 37:6 in the first qualifying match of World Cup. After three weeks the Tongans visited us in Tbilisi and “The Lelos” gained the last three points – 28:27. In 2003 the Georgian team could do nothing against Samoa at World Cup and lost 9:46. This June Georgian U-20 team was defeating Tonga at World Cup but lost 29:31. I hope our unsuccessful series against the islanders will end up against Fiji on November 24.
