You held the only France-Georgia (64-9) during the 2007 World Cup. What do you remember?
Sébastien Bruno:
It was an important match, the only one I played as a starter at this World Cup.
In addition, it was in Marseille, near my home.
It was a beautiful memory: I scored a try, I was the best tackler of the game ... It was the game for those who had not played too much.
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You had scored nine tries. Was it an easy game?
We knew them, they had a lot of "French" in front.
We had focused on the conquest and we knew that, by putting play, speed, they would lack a little rhythm.
They had made a good performance against Ireland (defeat 14-10, Editor's note), we knew that it would not be easy.
On the impacts, it stings.
They are strong
Sebastien bruno
The Georgian selection is often reduced to its fronts ...
Now the values are starting to level out. They are less domineering than before in front even if it remains strong. They recently released some good three-quarters, especially the hinge. There is a winger who plays in Lyon (Davit Niniashvili, Editor's note), there are two-three players who have stood out against Ireland (23-10) or Wales (18-0) during of the Fall Cup. But it's a team that lacks competition against the big teams so the slightest fault costs them: they no longer hold the ball, they only defend, they are under pressure, make mistakes and start taking points. But on the physical dimension, I remember that we had really hurt the English or the Irish. On the impacts, it stings. They are strong, they don't like to back down. On duels,they hurt. But in the collective organization, it is more complicated. They don't have the pace and speed of big teams.
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What are the strengths of this Georgian team?
They have a good third line, a rather beefy first line.
They almost all play in France, they are going to want to play a big big game.
It is their second home.
If the French are a little less concentrated, a little less ready for battle, it will be complicated.
Physically, they are not going to take away from the duels.
If you don't move forward, it's complicated.
Georgia has about twenty players playing in France. It's an advantage ?
It's an advantage, they know the players, they play, they train with them.
It's more of an advantage but it will be their first game (since a 40-9 loss against the Springboks in July, Editor's note).
They are going to lack benchmarks.
You talk about progression: from there to seeing them soon in the Six Nations Tournament?
The players are serious.
They want to prove that they have the level.
They were training hard, they were really listening.
But they are still a bit far away, they are gradually getting closer but they have to take out a few more players behind, so that they are used to playing together ...
