FIJI Water Flying Fijians assistant coach Daryl Gibson says Georgia will be motivated to get their first win of the 2023 Rugby World Cup against Fiji tomorrow.
The Lelos have recorded a loss to Australia and draw with Portugal, and face the Flying Fijians at Stade de Bordeaux at 3.45am.
Fiji goes into the match with a loss to Wales and a win over Australia. A win tomorrow will take the side closer to a quarter-final spot.
Picture: WORLD RUGBY
“The motivation for Georgia is very high. Clearly they looked disappointed with their performance (against Portugal). But this week’s really around Fiji, focusing on what we need to do and perform at the weekend,” Gibson, who is in charge of Fiji’s attacks, said.
“I think the bye (since the win over Australia) has come at a good stage of the tournament, given that we’ve had four tier-one nations in a row, it’s given us the opportunity to refresh.
“The energy and the excitement that the players have had this week is really palpable and they’re really looking forward to the game tomorrow.”
He said the two teams had evolved beyond the traditional idea of Georgia being known for their forward pack and Fiji for their back play.
“I think Georgia have definitely evolved. Traditionally, their core strengths of scrum and maul are still there but they’ve evolved their attacking game, they are producing backs now with skill and pace and wanting to play,” the former All Blacks inside centre said.
“And with Fiji obviously you can see improvement in the areas that we know we need to get better – exits, our mauls, our set-piece, a lot of factors have gone into our improvement during this tournament.”
