Georgia head coach Levan Maisashvili has selected his 35-man squad for the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup, ahead of the competition getting underway in two weeks’ time.
The Lelos stick with much of the same squad that were involved in last weekend’s 48-7 defeat to Scotland at BT Murrayfield, as well as including a number of young talents.
There are call-ups for uncapped Mikheil Alania and Luka Matkava, who have been performing well at youth level, as well as recalls for back-rower Mikheil Gachechiladze and winger Mirian Modebadze.
Merab Sharikadze continues to skipper the side, who will face tough matches against England, Wales and Ireland in Group A.
Konstantine Mikautadze, who has recently signed a three-month contract with Bayonne in the Top 14, is set to join up with his international teammates after their opening clash with Eddie Jones’ side on November 13.
Georgia will then make the trip to Llanelli to play Wales a week later, before their final group match sees them travel to Dublin to face off against Andy Farrell’s Ireland side at the Aviva Stadium.
With their warm-up match against Russia being postponed this weekend, a number of the Georgia-based international players returned to their domestic sides to feature in the Didi 10, before reconvening with their teammates and travelling to England.
The match at Twickenham will be a massive test for Maisashvili and his squad, but the Georgia boss is getting his side as prepared as possible for the fixtures ahead.
“For now, we have selected 35 players, though we might need to replace some of them during the tournament, using the reserve we have already identified,” he said.
“As decided earlier, Mikheil Alania, who already played several matches for Aurillac, will join us for the Autumn Nations Cup.
“We are also inviting Mikheil Gachechiladze and Mirian Modebadze, who recovered from his injury much earlier than expected.
“We are also inviting young and prospective back Luka Matkava in order to increase the depth at a specific position
“According to the tournament’s COVID regulations, after arrival in England we are not allowed to have contact training sessions until Thursday, which leaves us with as little as two full trainings ahead of the tournament opener.
“We have analysed the previous match and have identified the weak points to focus on in preparation for this game. England is much stronger than Scotland, though I think we will be much better prepared and will perform better.”
Georgia Squad for Autumn Nations Cup 2020:
Mikheil Nariashvili (62 Caps), Guram Gogichashvili (15 Caps), Lexo Kaulashvili (1 Cap), Shalva Mamukashvili (75 Caps), Jaba Bregvadze (59 Caps), Giorgi Chkoidze (11 Caps), Giorgi Melikidze (20 Caps), Beka Gigashvili (14 Caps), Nodar Cheishvili (26 Caps), Grigol Kerdikoshvili (2 Caps), Lasha Jaiani (2 Caps), Giorgi Javakhia (2 Caps), Kote Mikautadze (64 Caps), Mikheil Gachechiladze (10 Caps), Beka Gorgadze (28 Caps), Beka Saghinadze (13 Caps), Otar Giorgadze (26 Caps), Giorgi Tkhilaishvili (58 Caps), Tornike Jalaghonia (1 Cap), Vasil Lobzhanidze (52 Caps), Gela Aprasidze (26 Caps), Mikheil Alania (Uncapped), Tedo Abzhandadze (16 Caps), Lasha Khmaladze (83 Caps), Luka Matkava (Uncapped), Merab Sharikadze (67 Caps), Giorgi Kveseladze (25 Caps), Deme Tapladze (3 Caps), Mirian Modebadze (13 Caps), Akaki Tabutsadze (3 Caps), Sandro Todua (86 Caps), Tamaz Mchedlidze (58 Caps), Sandro Svanidze (Uncapped), Soso Matiashvili (28 Caps), Davit Niniashvili (Uncapped)
