Match News and Current Form
Georgia won their 17th Rugby Europe Championship title of this century in March and came into this game after winning all six of their fixtures from late November 2024 onwards. But they will be huge underdogs when they host Ireland for the first time this weekend as those victories have been against tier-two nations Spain (x2), Romania, Netherlands, Switzerland and Tonga.
With their three previous fixtures all lost against Italy, New Zealand’s second XV and Australia, this looks like being a stern test for Richard Cockerill’s team.
Ireland will take to the field for the first time since failing to retain the Six Nations Championship in spring and finishing outside the top two for the first time since 2021. Ireland were coached by Simon Easterby during the 2025 SNC and with Andy Farrell leading the Lions in Australia, it will be Paul O’Connell who steps up as interim coach for this summer tour of Georgia and Portugal.
Having to contend with 16 players being away on the Lions tour, O’Connell has given debuts to Tommy O’Brien on the wing and second row Darragh Murray. There are a further four uncapped players on the bench and Craig Casey will captain the side at scrum-half.
Head-to-Head History
This is the sixth H2H between the sides and Ireland won all five of the previous meetings in Rugby World Cup (RWC) qualifiers in 1998 and 2002, at the 2007 RWC, in the 2014 Guinness Series and an Autumn Nations Cup fixture in November 2020.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Since beating Italy and Wales in 2022, Georgia have lost all five of their fixtures against Tier 1 rugby nations.
Georgia scored between 40 and 110 points across their five games in 2025.
Ireland conceded at least 13 points in each of their last 13 matches (W9, L4).
Ireland failed to score greater than 28 points in 11 of their last 13 games.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Hooker Vano Karkadze scored a hat-trick of tries in Georgia’s last game when they retained the Rugby Europe International Championships with a 46-28 win over Spain. Sam Prendergast has been chosen ahead of Jack Crowley at fly-half for the visitors and he has kicked between 12 and 17 points in each of his last three Ireland appearances.
There are no notable absences for Georgia whereas Ireland are not only without their Lions players but also captain Caelan Doris and centre Robbie Henshaw who are both injured.
Betting Analysis
Ireland won all three of their away fixtures during the 2025 SNC but by margins of only five, nine and 14 points. Therefore, with absent Lions players as well, backing Georgia to cover their handicap of +14.5 looks an attractive selection.