Pool C / Georgia v Uruguay Sydney, 8.30 am: World Cup debutants Georgia have suffered heavy losses in their first three pool matches but find themselves favourites to win their final game against Uruguay today.
The east Europeans have developed a cult following in Australia since their brave performance in losing 46-19 to South Africa last week and are quietly confident of beating Uruguay in a match that will decide bottom place in pool C.
"The team has evolved in this tournament, in these three games and we are hoping that it will be a good conclusion with a win against Uruguay," Georgia coach Claude Saurel said. "We wanted to work on the negative and the positive areas. It is good to discover these things playing the best teams."
Saurel has gambled in his selection and has brought back seven of the supposedly "second string" players who gave the Springboks a hard time for this penultimate pool game. Team captain and flanker Gregoire Yachvili is among those recalled and hooker David Dadunashvili, who scored Georgia's first Cup try against the Springboks, retains his place.
"We have only had four days to recover and Uruguay has had 13 days. That makes it a very hard game for us," Saurel said. "Uruguay have also had the experience of playing in the World Cup before but this is only our first time.
"I feel we have improved as the tournament has gone on but you could also say the same about them. Their pack is hard and their first line of defence is excellent, so anyone who thinks this will be an easy game for us is wrong."
Uruguay have not played since their 60-13 loss to Samoa in Perth and coach Diego Ormaechea said his biggest job has been keeping his players focused.
"It's been a long time," Ormaechea said. "They are similar to us, this will be a hard game."
The Uruguayan manager admits they have little hope of a positive outcome against England in their final pool game, yet Ormaechea, whose side returned from the last World Cup with a win under their belts after beating Spain and who will look to match that feat with a similar result against Georgia, is adamant Uruguay are learning and will emerge a better team once their campaign is over.
"Despite the heavy losses, we are better than we were when the tournament started," he said. "The huge scorelines are not good for rugby, or for Uruguay, but we are learning all the time.
"At this level, the game is played at a different speed. We are picking things up all the time and that can only make us better."
GEORGIA: I Machkhaneli; M Urjukashvili, T Zibzibadze, I Giorgadze, A Kavtarashvili; P Jimsheladze; I Modebadze; I Zedginidze, G Yachvili (captain), G Chkhaidze, S Gujaraidze, Z Mchedlishvili, A Kopaliani, D Dadunashvili, G Shvelidze. Replacements: A Giorgadze, S Nikolaenko, G Tsiklauri, D Bolgashvili, M Kvirikashvili, V Katsadze, B Khamashuridze.
URUGUAY: J Menchaca; A Cardoso, D Aguirre (captain), M Mendaro, C Baldasari; S Aguirre, J Campomar; R Capo, H Ponte, N Grille, J Alzueta, J C Bado, P Lemoine, D Lamelas, R Sanchez. Replacements: J A Perez, E Berruti, G Storace, N Brignoni, M Gutierrez, B Amarillo, J Pastore.
Referee: K Deaker (New Zealand)
