43MINS: England are looking very efficient with the ball in hand. Armitage goes over in the corner, but it is pretty clear his foot was in touch. No try. Great cover tackle there. Every time England manage more than two combinations, they look like they are going to score.
42MINS: The half starts with some aerial ping-pong, but neither fly-half is kicking particularly well. Kaplan puts the crowd out of their misery, awarding a penalty to England. FLood puts a good kick into the corner to set up a good attacking position.
41MINS: England kick-off to Georgia, who gather well and clear long. England bring the ball back in hand, making good metres up to the halfway line.
HALFTIME: A nightmare end to the half for England, losing a man, and then Georgia going in under the posts. The underdogs could conceivaby be in the lead here, they have played the better rugby.
England should pull away reasonably comfortably in the second half, with their experience and conditioning making the difference in the final quarter.
When they have managed to get it together, England have looked like punching holes in the Georgian defence, but like the Wallabies last night, their moves are breaking down and they are looking frustrated.
Plenty here to improve on, in every area of the game. Flood has kicked from the hand badly, flirting between missed touches and bad angles. Georgia should be closer, but have failed to take the points on offer with Kvirikashvili having terrible trouble with his pot-shots.
Martin Johnson will have a few choice words with his indisciplined forwards, and expect them to come out firing in the second half. Surely they cannot play that badly for another 40 minutes?
It is definitely not a case of panic stations for England, the bulk of points in this tournament have come after 60minutes, and they should still be on course for 30+.
41MINS: And Georgia score a try under the posts through Dimitri Basilaia off the back of the scrum! Kvirikashvili takes the two, and it's a terrible end to the half for England. Australian fans must be delighted. ENGLAND 17 GEORGIA 10
40MINS: Georgia opt for the scrum rather than the three points, and have the put in in front of the posts, about three metres out. Steve Thompson comes on as England need a technical scrummager. They choose to take Tom Wood off, and keep Haskell on.
39MINS: And it's on here for Georgia. First Abuseridze, then Kvirikashvili break through the first line of defence, and England hold it up on the line. England have hands in there, and that's a yellow card for Dylan Hartley. It gets worse for England, who will be down to 14 men for the start of the next half.
37MINS: Armitage makes a good 15 metre break, and England win a penalty at the breakdown as Georgia interfere. Flood puts the ball down the line for an England throw. Another mistake, another turnover as the ball is thrown in at an angle.
35MINS: Penalty to England. Moody points to the posts. England opt to take the three, in spite of the crowd's wishes. Flood converts from a relatively hard angle. Wilko raises an eyebrow. ENGLAND 17 GEORGIA 3.
33MINS: Kaplan stops play as the ball nears Kvirikashvili, who is down and receiving attention. The physio's life just flashed in front of his eyes. Scrum put in to England in front of the Georgian posts.
31MINS: Martin Johnson will be fuming here. England are looking rusty and second-class. Expect them to come out better in the second half, after Johnno puts the fear of God into his players. Plenty of the men in white shirts are playing for their position.
29MINS: The crowd are getting behind Georgia here, showing their appreciation for the enterprising, attacking rugby of the team in red. Georgia lose the ball forward however, and England counter at pace. Ashton grubbers down the wing, nearly collects but the forwards tidy up and go wide. England penalised for crossing again as Armitage and Tuilagi gets their angles wrong. Poor communication there.
27MINS: Georgian put in to the scrum, halfway inside their own half. Ben Youngs does his best to disrupt at the base. Georgia put in a box kick, which Ashton takes, with a foot in touch. Poor from the England winger, gifting possession to Georgia. It appears he thought the ball was already dead.
26MINS: Straight through the uprights. And Georgia are on the board finally. ENGLAND 14 GEORGIA 3
25MINS: England are behaving much better at the breakdown since the warning from Kaplan. Georgia on the attack again, but not making great ground. Ashton and Tuilagi put in a big hit, but are pinged for a dangerous tackle as Tuilagi lifted the Georgian's legs. Harsh penalty that, not much in it. Kvirikashvili has another shot in front off the posts. He can't miss.
23MINS: He hasn't. Yes, he has. Kvirikashvili misses to the left. That's nine points wasted from the Georgians. The ball controversy continues.
22MINS: England win quick ball, but run into each other and are pinged for crossing. Georgia have a penalty in front of the posts.
19MINS: England pinch the loose ball at the lineout, and go wide. Tuilagi and Armitage link up well, and England recycle quickly. Flood dummies and goes, but without conviction. Much better from England. Good penetration, good retention. Ashton is pulled down agonisingly short. He is looking hungry. Excellent goalline defence from Georgia but Shontayne Hape eventually powers through under the posts. That's his second. Flood adds the two. ENGLAND 14 GEORGIA 0
17MINS: England make huge ground off the back of the scrum, flinging the ball through the backs and counter-attacking at pace. That will help to settle them down. Georgia are organised in defence though, and Flood eventually opts to put it in the air. Awful kick, but Georgia fumble and make it look better than iit was. Georgia tidy up and Merab Kvirikashvili puts in a huge kick into the English corner.
15MINS: England's early momentum has dissipated, and Georgia are roaring here. England work hard to turn over the ball. This Georgia could have turned Scotland over last week.
14MINS: Hartley pilfers the loose ball at the lineout and put in an up and under. Georgia regather, just, and run it back at England.
13MINS: And that's six pens in 13 minutes, next infringement gets a collective yellow card. A carbon copy of last week against Argentina.
12MINS: England give away another penalty for hands in the ruck. That's five breakdown penalties. Kaplan tells Lewis Moody to cut it out or they'll see yellow.
11MINS: Merab Kvirikashvili lines up a much more difficult shot at goal. The surface is good, there is no wind, but again the kickers are struggling terribly. It's no good.
10MINS: Now the Georgian winger Todua sprints up the wing before Ben Youngs takes him out. Georgia have all the possession and all the territory. England defending far too narrowly here. The attack peters out into nothing, but Kaplan goes back for another penalty. England must be on for a yellow card if this continues.
9MINS: Positive and aggressive start from Georgia, much more inventive than they were against the Scots. England infringe in front of the posts, and Merab Kvirikashvili says thanks you very much. That's three breakdown penalties against the English, they will not get very far in this tournament if they cannot tidy this up, and soon. Kvirikashvili pulls the simplest of kicks wide. Another let-off for England.
8MINS: The replays show that Ashton's challenge has shunted the Georgian into touch before he placed the ball. Youngs breathes a sigh of relief. No try, England lineout.
7MINS: Solid scrum from England, but Ben Youngs is caught in possession at the base, and Georgia go over in the corner for a try! They are celebrating, but Kaplan is going upstairs to the TMO. Sloppy.
6MINS: Now Georgia fancy a go. They recycle well and are making some inroads with their big forwards carrying the ball repeatedly into contact. Now they spread it, but they've knocked on, and possession goes back to England. Scrum in front of the English posts. Great enterprise from Georgia there, they are refusing to roll over.
5MINS: Simon Shaw is rampaging here, that's two carries in two minutes with the big 38-year-old having fun out there, a sight to see in full flight.
4MINS: And that didn't take long. Georgia spill the high ball and Shontayne Hape makes them pay as the ball squirts out of the breakdown and nobody picks it up. Hape runs through under the posts unchallenged. Flood converts. ENGLAND 7 GEORGIA 0
3MINS: England are looking to move the ball fast and wide, and unlike Scotland in midweek, their handling will not be hampered by the weather.
1MIN: Georgia kick-off deep, but follow up with a big hit on the ball receiver. England go wide immediately through Armitage. Flood kicks the ball away on consecutive possessions, and fails to find touch with both. A lively start here. England fail to roll away at the breakdown and give away a penalty. Georgia now miss touch.
PRE-GAME: Welcome to RugbyHeaven's live blog of England's Pool B clash with Georgia from Otago Stadium in Dunedin. It'd take a brave punter to bet on anything other than a comfortable England win here this afternoon. Georgia are far from the team that lost this fixture 84-6 in Perth in 2003, although arguably so are England.
Martin Johnson's team come into Sunday's game after a week of tabloid scandals and royal rebuttals. Following a hard fought win over the impressive Argentina here in Dunedin last week, the 2003 world champions have spent the week in the red-tops for all the wrong reasons. Veteran centre, and stand-in captain, Mike Tindall was the chief headline maker, having been caught out flirting with a mystery blonde in a Queenstown bar.
England's men left plenty of points in Dunedin, and watched gratefully as Argentina did the same.
Georgia put up a brave fight against Scotland, but despite decent possession and excellent physicality in defence, they failed to match this with inventiveness in attack, and will struggle to notch up points today.
With Toby Flood pulling the strings, expect two of Tuilagi, Ashton and Foden to score their first tries of the tournament in a morale-boosting forty-point win that will take some of the heat off of the England camp.
Martin Johnson will have been delighted with yesterday's results, which should see his team face a far simpler route towards the final than predicted.
Team news:
Mike Tindall will be absent this afternoon, although the England camp were quick to quash suggestions that he is being punished for his off-field behaviour. Kiwi-born Shontayne Hape takes up the space in the centre next to the imposing figure of Manu Tuilagi.
Lewis Moody returns to skipper the English side, with Tom Wood making his first World Cup appearance in the boot. With Courtney Lawes scrubbed out for two following a dangerous knee in the opening game, Johnson brings in Tom Palmer and the giant Simon Shaw, with Louis Deacon dropping to the bench.
In the front row, Steve Thompson and the injured Andrew Sheridan make way for Dylan Thompson and Dylan Hartley. Toby Flood is in for Jonny Wilkinson, while Leicester teammate Ben Youngs starts at No.9.
In contrast, Georgia make just two changes to the side that was edged 15-6 by Scotland in midweek. Ilia Zedginidze replaces Levan Datunashvili and David Kubriashvili replaces David Zirakashvili.
England (15-1):
Ben Foden; Chris Ashton, Manu Tuilagi, Shontayne Hape, Delon Armitage; Toby Flood, Ben Youngs; Nick Easter, Lewis Moody (capt), Tom Wood; Tom Palmer, Simon Shaw; Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley, Matt Stevens
Replacements: Steve Thompson, Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft, James Haskell, Joe Simpson, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Banahan
Georgia (15-1):
Revaz Gigauri; Irakli Machkhaneli, David Kacharava, Tedo Zibzibadze, Alexander Todua; Merab Kvirikashvili, Irakli Abuseridze (capt); Dimitri Basilaia, Mamuka Gorgodze, Shalva Sutiashvili; Vakhtang Maisuradze, Ilia Zedginidze; David Kubriashvili, Jaba Bregvadze, David Khinchagishvili
Replacements: Akvsenti Giorgadze, David Zirakashvili, Levan Datunashvili, Giorgi Chkhaidze, Bidzina Samkharadze, Givi Berishvili, Lasha Khmaladze
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (RSA)
Email a friend