WAL 43-19 GEO: Georgia reaction (head coach Maisashvili, captain Sharikadze, coach Brown, Lobzhanidze)

Reaction from Georgia head coach Levan Maisashvili, captain Merab Sharikadze, attack coach Cory Brown and scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze following their 43-19 loss against Wales in Pool C at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday, 7 October.

Cory Brown, attack coach

On his assessment of Georgia's Rugby World Cup:

"We are certainly disappointed not to progress and get a win. We created lots of opportunities, defended really well at times, against Fiji, but we weren't quite clinical enough to execute those chances that we created. It's a bit disappointing but that's the World Cup. You only get one opportunity."

On how Georgia move forward:

"Our style of play is changing a bit. We have always been known for really strong forwards, strong scrum, strong maul. Everyone else has that now. It's just about regrouping, getting everyone playing tier-one teams as much as we can. Rugby is really popular in Georgia so we just got to keep growing and keep making it better.

"Tier-two teams need to play tier-one teams more often. Hopefully World Rugby can help with that. We don't need to be in the Six Nations, we just need to get two, three, four games against tier-one teams a year and that would really help us."

On Georgia going out to win every game at the Rugby World Cup:

"We wanted to be competitive. We thought we were good enough to win each game. We created opportunities against Australia, Portugal, Fiji and even today to win those but we weren't able to execute those chances we created."

On being within five points of Wales:

"That's the game, isn't it? You're working really hard and the next minute the momentum shifted and we had a wee bit of a scuffle on the sideline, lost one of our best players and had a few injuries so the score blows out at the end but it's not reflective of how the game was." 

Vasil Lobzhanidze, scrum-half

On his disappointment despite the performance:

“Of course, I am disappointed because we were in the game. But I am glad we stuck to our game plan."

On the team spirits and the mentality despite being down to 13 men:

“Many players got injured. Akaki Tabutsadze had an injured ankle. He could barely walk. But we showed our true selves tonight.”

On what the Rugby World Cup will mean for Georgian rugby:

"We are moving forward as we couldn't achieve our target for this World Cup, but I hope that for the next World Cup we will be better prepared with a better team and we will achieve more."

On players retiring and the youngsters in the future:

“[Full-back] Lasha Khmaladze told us that he was retiring from international rugby. This generation shift will help us improve. We have had great Under-20 teams for the past six or seven years. These players keep growing. I think they will bring a lot to us in the future.”

On his outstanding memory of the tournament:

"The best memory from this World Cup is that being on the field for all the matches was a big honour so we proved what Georgia can do."

MEDIA CONFERENCE

Levan Maisashvili, head coach

On the defeat by Wales:

“This is the first time Georgia has played every game aiming to win. We didn’t meet our target so we are disappointed to finish our World Cup without a win. We will analyse it and do a review.”

On the game:

“I am not happy about our performance during the World Cup. We wanted to win at least two games, but every game we tried hard to win. But we never gave up. We had a game plan which we couldn’t stick with and some mistakes which gave the advantage back to our opponents.

“But we were facing one of the best teams in the world and I wish them all the best for the World Cup.

“I don’t have any special comments regarding the referee. 

“I want to thank everyone who came to support us. We could feel that support. We are disappointed we couldn’t give our best and do more.”

On Georgia’s Rugby World Cup campaign:

“We created positive momentums in a lot of matches, like against Australia.

“We lost some players - nine players were missing due to some injuries. I am not here to find excuses. That’s not the point. We played some good rugby but we couldn’t show that in the final result.

“We will work harder in the future to get that final result.”

On the future:

“This is a very young team. I don’t think there were some selections mistakes, but we will see what happens in the future.”

Merab Sharikadze, captain

On getting within five points of Wales:

“We got quite close and worked hard. We tried to stay in the game, but our winger got injured and then we had a yellow card.

“In the end we let them score a few tries, they were able to take advantage. 

“I don’t have any comments about the referee. I think we could have won that game.

“We are disappointed not to win any matches. We played some quality rugby.

“But as for our fans, we are happy and honoured and I promise our supporters that sooner or later we will bring them some victories.”

ON-FIELD REACTION

Levan Maisashvili, head coach

On his thoughts on the match:

“We played against one of the strongest teams, that’s why they are first in the pool.

“We played good rugby. We did come back in the second half but we lost against one of the strongest teams.”

On his thoughts on Rugby World Cup 2023:

“I’m a little bit disappointed because we didn’t achieve our target, what was our goal, but one thing I can say is we played against tier one countries every game. Results of course is not what we want, but we played every game and never gave up.”