GEO team announcement (v WAL): head coach Maisashvili, captain Sharikadze, Niniashvili

Comments from Georgia head coach Levan Maisashvili, captain Merab Sharikadze and winger Davit Niniashvili after the announcement of their team for their Pool C game against Wales at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday, 7 October.

Levan Maisashvili, head coach

On what would be a good performance:

"In this World Cup against every team we try our best. We have been disappointed [as we haven't won a game] but definitely against Wales a good result for us will only be winning the game."

On changing the way they play:

"If you watch our game, not only at the World Cup but in the last year or two years ago, we started to play a more balanced game because everyone understands if you want to go and win big games against tier-one countries you cannot play only this heavy game with just scrummaging or mauling.

"Also you see they are changing the rules in the maul and there’s much more advantage for a defensive team against the maul - if you see the statistics, it’s obvious.

"Also scrummaging is sometimes 50-50. You can watch and see sometimes each team has only four or five scrums, so you cannot only play with certain games. That’s why we changed our game. We have a more balanced game and for us both forward play and back play are important. How we keep the balance, how our discipline will be, how our structure will be, that will be key in this game."

Merab Sharikadze, captain and centre (pictured)

On how he sees the game going:

"At the moment it's a different team. They are playing much, much better than they did last year in November [when Georgia beat Wales] and you can tell. There is no other good result than winning even though we though we respect Wales, they are an awesome team. We still want to win and we will try our best to achieve our goal."

On almost reaching 100 caps for Georgia:

"Probably the best answer to that is what I feel is the responsibility. I feel huge responsibility. 

"The more you play, the responsibility just rises, so the hundredth game is nothing more than more responsibility than the first, second or third game.”

On their last game against Wales:

"I can proudly say that that is the biggest win of Georgian rugby history ever, so obviously I am very proud that I have been part of it and this memory is going to stay in our heads for our lifetimes."

Davit Niniashvili, winger

On how Georgia need to improve:

"We need to create more opportunities than we did. Every opportunity we create we just need to execute it, finish it and transform it into the points. We’re going to do our best and I’m going to do my best to keep going, keep breaking lines and keep getting points."

On expectations from the Welsh defence:

"There will not be anything special (different) with this team, they always put pressure on attackers against any team, they’re just going to keep doing that."