Ireland kick off their two-test summer series tomorrow evening in Tbilisi when they take on Georgia in what will be the sixth-ever international meeting of the countries. Ireland have won the previous five meetings between the countries, but this will be the first time they will play a capped game in the Georgian capital. The Ireland team is managed by Interim Head Coach Paul O'Connell, who announced yesterday morning that Connacht's Darragh Murray will make his debut in the second row, with clubmates Ben Murphy and Jack Aungier set to make their first appearance for Ireland off the bench. The new Ireland Captain is Craig Casey from Munster, just the third-ever scrum half to captain Ireland in the professional era after Niall Hogan and Eoin Reddan, and he has been speaking to Galway Bay FM's William Davies after today's Captain's Run in the match stadium in Tbilisi...
Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 7 Beka Saghinadze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Lado Chachanidze, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze.
Replacements: 16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Giorgi Javakhia, 20 Ilia Spanderashvili, 21 Mikheil Alania, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze.
Ireland: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Calvin Nash.
Date: Saturday, July 5th
Venue: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi
Kick-off: 6 p.m. Irish time
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England) & Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
