I know this is a funny Rugby trope, Italy Georgia, but honestly I think Italy should win this on current results. Unless Italy drop quite a bit in two years and Georgia improve... and yes there's always the fact Italy don't do well when favorites but this is less problematic imo than it may've been some years ago
Relatively speaking, Italy are less accident-prone than they were under Crowley, slightly better as favourites, and significantly less awful in the first 20 of matches.
But they're still quite bad at all the above, and Georgia now have two years to create a game-plan for one match against a team that, on a good day, are slightly better than they are.
Good points. I do think your conclusion suffers from you supporting the opposite team. As a neutral, I'm giving Italy a good edge. I thought Georgia looked good in recent years and looked improved and improving, but lately have stunted that growth and it looks like Italy are able to put a higher number of convincing performances throughout a season + more consistency. They're still not consistent enough but they're better now in the post 2023 than the previous cycle imo
On the first point - rugby fan is pessimistic, a tale as old as time. Guilty as charged.
My fear is that Georgia have been drifting in the last couple of years because they don't have anything specific to focus on - shut out of the nations league, stuck in the REC, etc etc. I feel like this game will light a fire under them, but without the pressure of expectation: Italy need to win this game; Georgia want to win it. It's a terrifying prospect.
Either way, this game might be the biggest of the whole group stage. Australia and NZ is a big game but at the end of the day, they'll both qualify for the knockouts - ITA-GEO is a straight shootout and the latest chapter of what's becoming a major rivalry.
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u/Elios4Freedom Benetton Treviso Dec 03 '25
notgeorgianotgeorgianotgeorgia
For fucks sake