Georgia clash with Portugal in Rugby World Cup Pool C in Toulouse in the first of Saturday's matches and both sides are looking for their first log points.
Georgia v Portugal, Saturday 23rd September, Toulouse, KO14:00 (South African time)
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)
Weather Forecast - Toulouse
Georgia:
Georgia return to action after losing on the opening weekend 35-15 to the Wallabies. The main handicap line was 22.5 points so plus backers were happy. Georgia trailed 18-3 at half time and scored second half tries through Ivanishvili and a consolation for Gigashvili at the death.
That leaves Georgia looking to open their account in a pool led by Wales (10 points) and Australia and Fiji (6 points) and there is a huge clash between the Wallabies and Wales to come on Sunday.
In RWC 2019 Georgia were also drawn in the same pool as the Wallabies, Wales and Fiji. They lost 43-14 to Wales, 45-10 to Fiji and 27-8 to Australia and their only win came against Uruguay (33-7).
After this Georgia meet Fiji and then Wales. As far as the RWC outright betting is concerned Georgia are 18.5/1 to qualify from this pool with BoyleSports
Boyle Sports: 20% stake refund if the Boks lose against Ireland (T&C's apply)
Portugal:
Portugal also lost their opening game, 28-8 to Wales last weekend. They were given around 30 points start on the handicap so plus backers collected again. They trailed 14-3 at half time and Nicolas Martins scored their only try in a spirited display but Wales scored 4 tries to come away with a bonus point win.
Portugal lost 38-11 to this opposition in Georgia back in March. Their only previous appearance at the RWC finals also came in France in 2007 when they lost to Scotland (56-10), New Zealand (108-13), Italy (31-5) and Romania (14-10).
In the RWC outright betting Portugal are 33/1 to qualify from this pool with BoyleSports
Boyle Sports: Get a 25% payout boost on the Springboks to win the RWC (T&C's apply)
Team News
Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Merab Sharikadze (c), 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Gela Aprasidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Tornike Jalagonia, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Vladimer Chachanidze, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili
Replacements: 16 Tengizi Zamtaradze, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Guram Papidze, 19 Nodar Cheishvili, 20 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 21 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 22 Luka Matkava, 23 Demur Tapladze
Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 12 Tomás Appleton (c), 11 Rodrigo Marta, 10 Jerónimo Portela, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Rafael Simões, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 João Granate, 5 Steevy Cerqueira, 4 José Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Mike Tadjer, 1 Francisco Fernandes
Replacements: 16 David Costa, 17 Lionel Campergue, 18 Anthony Alves, 19 Martim Belo, 20 David Wallis, 21 Thibault de Freitas, 22 Pedro Lucas, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto
The Betting
20h55 22 September
Georgia -14.5 points at 9/10
Portugal +14.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
This handicap has been fairly stable all week.
Georgia started slowly against Australia, but they impressed me in the second-half and although Portugal went down by 20 points against Wales I was very impressed with them at times and perhaps their main problem is that they try do too much with the ball in hand, they probably need to kick a bit more strategically.
While Portugal may not have been Georgia’s biggest target at the start of this World Cup they will be very wary of them and Portugal will no doubt have targeted this game for a win. I can see a tight and physical encounter taking place here and for me the play is under 51.5 points – this goes against my panel on THE HANDICAP and you can click here to get their views.
Stay close to our forum thread where I will post any additional plays on this game
BET: 4 Units, under 51.5 points at 1/1 Betxchange Boost (5k max, can’t use in multiples)
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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