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Lomu-like six foot five Georgia wing to debut against England

By PA
Georgian players line up for the anthems /Getty

Georgia have given their promising former under-20 wing Sandro Svanidze his debut in Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup match against England.

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The elevation of Svanidze, 22 (6’5, 100kg) to the starting XV is one of eight changes made to the team thumped 48-7 by Scotland on October 23.

In total, there are 474 caps in the starting XV with centre Merab Sharikadze leading the team.

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Eddie Jones talks ahead of Georgia showdown:

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      Eddie Jones talks ahead of Georgia showdown:

      Directing operations will be a new-look half-back pairing of Gela Aprasidze and Tedo Abzhandadze.

      An experienced pack with a total of 254 caps between them will feature against England. There four changes in total in the pack. Leicester Tigers’ hooker Shalva Mamukashvili is promoted from the bench, while Beka Gigashvili returns at tighthead from an injury layoff.

      Lasha Jaiani comes in in the engine while Giorgi ‘Koki’ Tkhilaishvili is promoted from the bench into the back row.

      GEORGIA TEAM
      Backs: 15. Lasha Khmaladze (83 caps, 53 points), 14. Akaki Tabutsadze (3 caps, 30 points), 13. Giorgi Kveseladze (25 caps, 20 points), 12. Merab Sharikadze (67 caps, 60 points, captain), 11. Sandro Svanidze (*), 10. Tedo Abzhandadze (16 caps, 53 points), 9. Gela Aprasidze (26 caps, 24 points);

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      Forwards: 1. Mikheil Nariashvili (62 caps, 10 points), 2. Shalva Mamukashvili (75 caps, 50 points), 3. Beka Gigashvili (14 caps, 5 points), 4. Lasha Jaiani (2 caps), 5. Grigor Kerdikoshvili (2 caps), 6. Beka Saginadze (13 caps, 5 points), 7. Giorgi Tkhilaishvili (58 caps, 60 points), 8. Beka Gorgadze (28 caps, 40 points);

      Substitutes: 16. Jaba Bregvadze (59 caps, 15 points), 17. Guram Gogichashvili (15 caps, 5 points), 18. Lexo Kaulashvili (1 caps), 19. Otar Giorgadze (26 caps, 25 points), 20. Tornike Jalagonia (1 caps); 21. Vasil Lobzhanidze (52 caps, 40 points), 22. Deme Tapladze (3 caps, 5 points), 23. Sandro Todua (86 caps, 65 points)

      ENGLAND TEAM:
      E Daly (Saracens); J Joseph (Bath Rugby), O Lawrence (Worcester Warriors), H Slade (Exeter Chiefs), J May (Gloucester Rugby); O Farrell (Saracens, capt), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); E Genge (Leicester Tigers), J George (Saracens), W Stuart (Bath Rugby), C Ewels (Bath Rugby), J Launchbury (Wasps), M Itoje (Saracens), J Willis (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens).

      Replacements: T Dunn, (Bath Rugby), M Vunipola (Saracens), K Sinckler (Bristol Bears), B Earl (Bristol Bears), T Curry (Sale Sharks), D Robson (Wasps), M Malins (Bristol Bears), J Marchant (Harlequins).

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      H
      Head high tackle 3 hours ago
      Can Samoa and Tonga ever become contenders when their top talent is skimmed?

      I think you have gone in the wrong direction here Nick. I think you need to delve down into the rules etc around Moana Pacifica’s selection policies and then you need to understand that a lot of KIWI BORN rugby players have PI heritage. It appears ok for the 4 home nations to pillage NZ born players constantly without retribution but you want to question whether NZ BORN players should be eligible for NZ? Seems a real agenda in there.

      Go back and look at the actual Aims and agenda for MP becoming a entity and you see lots of things enshrined in policy that you arnt mentioning here. EG there is an allowance for a percentage of MP to be NZ eligible. This was done so MP could actually become competitive. Lets be real. If it wasnt this way then MP would not be competitive.

      There also seems to be some sort of claim ( mainly from the NH ) that NZ is “cashing in” on MP, which , quite frankly is a major error. Are you aware of how much MP costs NZR Financially?

      39 NZ born rugby players played at the last world cup for Samoa or Tonga. PLUS plenty for Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.

      Taumoefolau is a BORN AND BRED NZer. However I very strongly doubt he will be an AB, but who do you believe he should be allowed to play for? Levi Aumua is ALSO a born and bred Kiwi.

      Aumua was eligible to represent Samoa and Fiji for the Pacific Nations Cup in July that year but ended up playing for neither. He IS eligible for his nation of Birth too Nick

      He is a Kiwi. Are you saying an NZ born, raised Kiwi cant play for NZ now?

      Sorry Nick Kiwi born and bred actually qualify for NZ.

      5 Go to comments
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