Australia eyes Georgia

TOKYO - Australia have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup courtesy of the Wales’s victory over Fiji on Wednesday but the Wallabies will still be anxious to stamp their authority on their final Pool D match against Georgia.

The twice world champions and 2015 finalists head into Friday’s match at Shizuoka Stadium with another muchchanged line-up and have yet to produce a commanding 80-minute performance in Japan. Coach Michael Cheika is convinced the permanent revolution in his team selection is working, though, and has named a third starting flyhalf in four matches for Australia’s first test meeting with the powerful Georgians.

Matt To’omua has already led the line in Japan, coming on for Bernard Foley against Wales and firing Australia’s ultimately fruitless comeback in a loss that will almost certainly condemn the Wallabies to second place in the pool.

Cheika will expect the David Pocockcaptained side to hit the ground running after slow starts in all three of their previous matches in Japan and believes he has a reasonable idea of what Georgia will bring to the game.

“They are very physical, that’s quite obvious and they like the set pieces. It’s a real challenge for us,” the coach told reporters on Tuesday.

“A lot of their players are playing in the professional leagues in France and England as well. They are well attuned to competition at the high level.

“We want to show them how we play our rugby and I am sure they will be showing us how they play theirs.”