Robinson demands raw power to ‘smash the Georgians to floor’

SCOTLAND coach Andy Robinson has called on his team to reveal their raw power as they go up against a Georgian pack rated as one of the strongest in the World Cup.

The Georgians are currently 16th in the IRB world rankings, with Scotland up in seventh, but the great weapon the eastern Europeans have is the significant strength in their forward pack. They are also coached by the former Scotland chief Richie Dixon, and while he was at pains yesterday to stress that his team are becoming more dangerous because they are moving away from the traditional forward physicality and developing their back play, he acknowledged that it was through the scrums, mauls and driving play that they hoped to ruin Scottish hopes of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals.

They have a template to work from with Romania having upset Scotland in Saturday’s opening match in Invercargill, coming back from a 15-3 deficit to lead 24-21 going in the last ten minutes through their raw forward power and Scottish complicity, before two Simon Danielli tries salvaged a Scots win.

In naming a side with 11 changes, Robinson has turned to mostly bigger and more experienced forwards for tomorrow’s clash with Georgia.

He said: “We see this Georgia game as a really tough game and we expect it to be harder than the Romania game. It’s a cracking side that we’ve selected for the number of challenges we will face. There’s real physicality about the side, and we need to bring that physicality out in the way we play and particularly in our physicality at the breakdown.

“We need to be really physical and be able to smash the Georgians to the floor, collectively right across the board.

“The Georgians have a very good scrum and it’s the first time that I’ve gone with 5/2 [five forwards on the bench and two backs], but I feel it’s important that we are able to make changes in the front row.

“Georgia want a place at the Six Nations table and they see this as an opportunity to put their hand up for that. This is a huge game for them in terms of being on the global stage and if you think back to 2007 [when Georgia lost 14-10 to Ireland] they got very close.”

He added: “These players have a huge opportunity against a very good side, a physical side, to put their hands up. It’s about performing on the day. Every player has points to prove. That’s what