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The 4 uncapped Georgians to watch out for this November

By Nathaniel Cope
Georgia team line up before November international against Wales in 2017. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Georgia have announced their 34-man squad for their upcoming November internationals as they look to take some scalps ahead of the World Cup next year.

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The team have a training camp in France from where Georgia national team will travel to Florence to face Italy on November 10 at Artemio Franchi stadium – a match billed in some quarters as a pseudo Six Nations playoff.

They also have two home Tests against Samoa on November 17 at Avchala Rugby Stadium and against Tonga on November 24 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.

There are four uncapped players in the squad, but just who are they:

Guram Gogichashvili
Another loosehead prop from the front row production line that emerges from Georgia. 116kg Gogichashvili made a name for himself at the recent World Rugby Under 20 Championship. He’s at Racing 92 and made his Top 14 debut against Agen on September 8th, four days after his 20th birthday. He’s also started in each of Racing’s Heineken Champions Cup matches so far, against the Scarlets and Ulster.

Tedo Abzhandadze
A flyhalf who has spent time in Ireland with Terenure’s Under 20’s and then was then part of the first Georgian side to beat Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship when they recorded a 24-20 win last summer.

He has caught the attention of Georgian head coach Milton Haig who says Abzhandadze “plays a lot older than he really is” and added “he makes good decisions, he controls people in front of him, which is a really big plus for somebody so young to direct play as well as he does, he’s a got a good kicking game and attacks the line well”. He’s currently on the books at RC AIA Kutaisi in Georgia’s domestic competition and at 19-years-old he has bags of potential.

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Continue reading below…
Watch: Georgia scrummaging session with England in February 2018

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Beka Gigashvili

Another who has already bagged himself a contract in France, playing with Grenoble. He joined the club in 2017 originally signing a two-year contract, which has been subsequently extended to 2021. The 26-year-old had a chunk of last season taken away because of injury. He’s only played once in the Top 14 so far this season. His versatility is without question, the 114kg front rower is comfortable playing loosehead, tighthead and hooker.

Grigor Kerdikoshvili

Can play at number 8 or lock. He spent time in the USA playing for the Glendale Merlins and then subsequently for the Glendale Raptors in the inaugural Major League Rugby season, helping them finish top of the regular season table, only for them to falter in the post-season .

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He returned to Tbilisi over the summer to play for Lelo Saracens and is called up by head coach Milton Haig for the first time.

The three matches are likely to be the four potential debutantes last chance to stake their claim for a World Cup spot, with Haig has describing the games as key building blocks.

“With less than 11 months to go before the Rugby World Cup begins in Japan, this is an important stage in our over-all ‘Preparation Plan’ and a great opportunity to test ourselves against very good teams who will also compete at the Rugby World Cup next year.”

You may also like: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus speaks ahead of South Africa’s year-end tour

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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