Preview - Georgia v Uruguay

The Wooden Spoon in Pool C

Georgia and Uruguay, the Lelos and the Teros, meet at Aussie Stadium in Sydney on Tuesday evening. Both teams are looking forward to the match. After all the rugby field will be leveller for them this time in their Pool C match for up till now they have taken batterings from the other pool teams - England, Samoa and South Africa. Now they are fighting at their own weight.

It is certain that the battle will be eagerly engaged, both sides striving for a first victory at this year's Rugby World Cup - in Georgia's case a first-ever victory.

In 1999 Uruguay had their chance to win and beat Spain 27-15 at Galashiels. Of the players who won four years ago, Juan Menchaca, Alfonso Cardoso, Diego Aguirre, Martín Mendaro, Nicolás Grille, Juan Carlos Bado, Juan Alzueta, Pablo Lemoine, Diego Lamelas, Guillermo Storace, Rodrigo Sanchez and Nicolas Brignoni all return - 12 in all.

The battle between the two sets of forwards could be especially interesting as that is where both sides are at their best. It is there that the match could just be enthralling - a bit more enthralling, one hopes, than sumo wrestling.

But then sumo wrestling is enthralling for aficionados, and connoisseurs of forward-play may find this encounter more interesting than most.

Outside of the forwards, the Georgians may well have greater creativity and enthusiasm, playing as most of their players do in the flair-filled clubs of France. They are more likely to score tries than the Uruguayans.

The Uruguayans have made three changes to the side that lost to Samoa. Sebastian Aguirre comes in to fly-half to play inside his brother, Alfonso Cardoso comes back onto the wing and Hernán Ponte comes onto the flank. Lock Juan Carlos Bado has a throat problem and may well be replaced by Juan Miguel Alvarez.

The Georgians have made seven changes from the team, which battled bravely against the Springboks.

Irakli Giorgadze and Tedo Zibzibadze come into the centre and Brive-born Grégoire Yachvili, whose brother is in the French squad, comes off the bench to play on the flank.

Zurab Mchedlishvili comes into lock with gallant Ilia Zedginidze moving to No.8 where he is happier. Goderdzi Shvelidze comes in to tighthead with Avtandil Kopaliani shifting to tighthead. Malkhaz Urjukashvili on the wing.

Players to watch:

Georgia: Above all, the Georgian halfbacks are worth attention - Paliko Jimsheladze at fly-half with his productive boot and lively Irakli Modebadze, one  of the many excellent scrum-halves at the World Cup.

Uruguay: One will inevitably watch forwards, especially tighthead Pablo Lemoine but above all their tireless, powerful No.8 Rodrigo Capo. Outside of their pack their most likely looking player is fullback Juan Menchaca.

Head to head: That will be about front row to front row - head to head, shoulder to shoulder, muscle and sinew to muscle and sinew, beef to beef.

Prediction: It's not an easy one to call but the Georgians look more likely top score points. Paliko Jimsheladze looks a bit more reliable a kicker than Diego Aguirre, and outside of that Irakli Machkhaneli and Malkhaz Urjukashvili look more likely to score tries.
Zurich Computer Prediction: Georgia by 11 points.
Planet Rugby Prediction: Georgia by 10 points.

The teams:

Georgia: 15 Irakli Machkhaneli, 14 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 13 Tedo Zibzibadze, 12 Irakli Giorgadze, 11 Archil Kavtarashvili, 10 Paliko Jimsheladze, 9 Irakli Modebadze, 8 Ilia Zedginidze, 7 Grégoire Yachvili, 6 George Chkhaidze, 5 Sergo Gujaraidze, 4 Zurab Mchedlishvili, 3 Avtandil Kopaliani, 2 David Dadunashvili, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze.
Replacements: 16 Akvsenti Giorgadze, 17 Soso Nikolaenko, 18 George Tsiklauri, 19 David Bolgashvili, 20 Merab Kvirikashvili, 21 Vasil Katsadze, 22 Besik Khamashuridze.
 
Uruguay: 15 Juan Menchaca, 14 Alfonso Cardoso, 13 Diego Aguirre, 12 Martín Mendaro, 11 Carlos Baldasarri, 10 Sebastian Aguirre, 9 Juan Campomar, 8 Rodrigo Capo, 7 Hernán Ponte, 6 Nicolás Grille, 5 Juan Alzueta,  4 Juan Carlos Bado, 3 Pablo Lemoine, 2 Diego Lamelas, 1 Rodrigo Sanchez.
Replacements: 16 Juan Andres Perez, 17 Eduardo Berruti, 18 Guillermo Storace, 19 Nicolas Brignoni, 20 Marcelo Gutierrez, 21 Bernardo Amarillo, 22 Joaquin Pastore.

Kick-off: Tuesday, 19.30 (GMT 08.30), Live in the UK on ITV2
Venue: Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Weather conditions: Scattered clouds, High 23°C, low 14°C
Referee: Andrew Cole (Australia)
Touch judges: Nigel Williams (Wales), Donal Courtney (Ireland)
TMO: Iain Ramage (Scotland)