- Scotland -24 on the h'cap (10/11)
Before Georgia last played Scotland outside of a Rugby World Cup year, they were arguably at their peak as a team.
The Lelos were riding the crest of a wave following on from their most-successful Rugby World Cup campaign to date in which they directly qualified for Japan 2019 through a third-place pool finish at England 2015.
Milton Haig’s men turned up at Kilmarnock in November 2016 ready to lay down a marker and prove they were worth their place in the Six Nations.
However, they badly fluffed their lines and were soundly beaten 43-16.
Haig has left to take up a coaching position in Japan since then, while totemic figures like Mamuka Gorgodze have called it a day.
Georgia have some brilliant young players, notably at half-back, to complement what will always be a gnarled pack, but they return to Scotland as a team in the early rebuilding stages.
On the eve of RWC 2019, they went down 36-9 to Scotland in a warm-up match and that proved a portent of things to come with only one win claimed in Japan.
Levan Maisashvili has taken on the role of head coach and will be supported by David Humphreys, Neil Doak and Sebastian Bruno for the duration of the upcoming Autumn Nations Cup.
However, the new-look coaching setup has had very little time to work with their players, some of whom will be playing their first competitive rugby since March.
Georgia’s France-based players will be less rusty but it is still asking a lot of the side thrown together a week or so ago to keep the score down against a Scotland side that looked to be clicking nicely into gear under Gregor Townsend when the lockdown brought an untimely halt to the Six Nations.
Townsend’s side has an experimental look to it but with the PRO14 having barely had a break between seasons, they will be much more battle-hardened than the visitors.
The handicap of -24 is a lot for the Scots to overcome but with the Lelos still finding their feet and trying out new combinations, enough scoring opportunities should arise to see them home.
