Georgia next in the firing line as Uruguay put Fijian celebrations to bed

Uruguay back rower Juan Diego Ormaechea insists the South Americans are determined to produce another World Cup shock against Georgia. Fiji were stunned in Pool D on Wednesday when Uruguay achieved the greatest result in their rugby history with a 30-27 victory in Kamaishi.

“We’re still happy but we know it’s in the past,” Ormaechea said of the Fiji win ahead of the Georgia clash in Kumagaya. “We’re very focused on this game. We knew we would have only three or four days (turnaround) and we are 100 per cent focused on Georgia. It’s a game that will demand that kind of energy and mental focus again.”

Georgia lost their opening game to Wales 43-14 on Monday, but they produced a dogged second-half performance in which they shared 28 points with Warren Gatland’s side. At 11th place in the world rugby rankings, they are six spots higher than Uruguay and lead Los Teros 3-2 in their head-to-head meetings.

“We are at a tipping point in our tournament,” said Georgia head coach Milton Haig, who has made 12 changes from the team that started against Wales. “Obviously the Uruguay match this week becomes a must-win for us, so we’re under no illusions about where we are at and what needs to be done.

“We knew we were going to have short turnarounds. When we had the pool draw we knew that between the Uruguay and Fiji games we would have four days. We don’t really see a lot of significance between what team went out against Wales and what team goes out here.”

– Press Association 

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