Ireland vs. Georgia: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Rugby Preview
Georgia will be hard-pressed to manage an upset upon visiting Ireland in Dublin on Sunday, having lost a home tie against Tonga last time out while Ireland recorded a 29-15 win over South Africa.
However, as the march toward the 2015 Rugby World Cup continues, both teams regard the development of their squads as highly as results themselves, and the Georgians will view this as a chance for further discovery.
It promises to be a rather one-sided affair in favour of the Aviva Stadium hosts. We provide full viewing details and analysis of which players to keep an eye on below.
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Date: Sunday, Nov. 16
Time: 2:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK, subscription required), SuperSport stream (SA)
TV Info: Sky Sports 4 (UK, red button), SuperSport 1 (SA)
Key Players to Watch
Ireland: Gordon D'Arcy
Having sat out last week's memorable win over the Springboks through injury, Gordon D'Arcy makes his return to the starting line-up this weekend for a smooth transition back into the team.
The Leinster man is in an unfamiliar position, however, with Robbie Henshaw having shown a host of positives in that victory and offering a new competition for the No. 12 jersey.
As a result, D'Arcy is under a new pressure to impress, and while Georgia won't be the toughest opponent by any stretch of the imagination, Sunday's Test will be physical if nothing else.
Last week's try scorer Rhys Ruddock, rested for this weekend's matchup, was quoted by ESPN as admitting coach Joe Schmidt isn't allowing players to get ahead of themselves:
"Everyone's got a lot of respect for them. Everyone's got a bit more confidence after a good win, but Joe's brought us back down to earth and the reality is we didn't perform to the best of our ability. It was a good win, but there's a lot more left in the tank. The focus now is on getting all of that out this weekend. We're hoping to improve our performance on last weekend.
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D'Arcy will need to do as he has done for years now and take care of the simple things first, but if he is to regain the starting spot outright, a sense of urgency must also be shown in Dublin.
Lined up alongside Darren Cave, another new midfield combination for Schmidt's men will go under examination against Georgia, and the experienced star D'Arcy must be the man to lead an experimental back line.
Georgia: Davit Kubriashvili
As aforementioned, Georgia will look to their forward ranks in order to squeak out any kind of advantage when making the trip to Ireland, boasting a healthy reserve of Top 14 and Pro D2 talent.
Among those talents sits the domineering figure of tighthead prop Davit Kubriashvili, the Stade Francais titan bearing a large burden as one of the more senior members in his national team's fold.
All eyes will be fixed on Kubriashvili come scrum time as the 28-year-old hopes Ireland will give way to the weight of his pack brethren. However, a more expansive approach will be required than winning set pieces alone.
Irish prop Jack McGrath registered 17 tackles against the Springboks last week, per ESPN Scrum, providing a taster of what Kubriashvili can be expected to contribute in the loose.
Kubriashvili may not reach such high figures in Dublin this Sunday, but if his team are to surmount the odds, it's the kind of standard Georgia's giant will need to be aspiring toward.
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