New captain Fraser Brown knows Scotland will have to show patience against Georgia

Like most Scotland fans, the first time Georgia broke into Fraser Brown’s rugby consciousness was when Scotland played them in the 2011 World Cup.

That was a match which forever pigeonholed Georgia, in Scots minds, as massive forwards and doughty competitors, a side that will huff and puff but ultimately be overcome by a side with as much quality as Scotland. It is an impression that first took root that day at Invercargill, when Georgia’s Kiwi coach Milton Haig devised a game plan that saw them leading Scotland 3-0 after 20 minutes, the  Scots struggling badly before finally prevailing 15-6, with all of Scotland’s points coming from the boot of Dan Parks.

Ever since that breakout tournament, Georgia have threatened great things without ever delivering, while Scotland have improved hugely and developed a high-tempo game well suited to combating the Lelos’s surfeit of tight-five muscle.

Unlike Andy Robinson’s rather static team of 2011, under Vern Cotter and then Gregor Townsend, an increasingly ambitious Scotland have regularly put Georgia to the sword when they have met, winning all three matches comfortably – 43-16, 44-10 and 36-9.

Yet although the Georgian fascination with the grapple and grunt of the forward encounters has its roots in their national game, Lelo, which is a throwback to the pushing and shoving of the medieval Shrove Tuesday Ball Games, the Georgians are making huge efforts to evolve their style of play.

Head coach Levan Maisashvili has promised a more expansive approach at Murrayfield on Friday as the visitors prepare for Nations Cup games against England, Wales and Ireland.

Brown, who in the absence of Stuart Hogg captains his country for the first time, is, however, expecting business as usual. Six of Georgia’s pack and both half-backs play their rugby in France’s Top 14, while all the remaining backs all play in Georgian domestic rugby, making the Lelos a far more formidable proposition up front than out wide.

“They have a reputation for being big, powerful scrummagers, big powerful forwards and they have that reputation because they are good at it,” said the hooker. “They look strong and dominate games through that pack. They have a lot of guys who play Top 14 rugby and they play with a lot of power and excitement in the backline as well. It will be tough to meet that physicality, get on top at set piece and impose our game on them.”

For Brown, the set-piece battle in general, and the scrum in particular, will be a good preparation for next week’s postponed Six Nations game against Wales in Llanelli.

“The scrum is a big part of how Georgia play,” he said. “In the last couple of years, they have created a more rounded game plan and have great half backs that play for Top 14 teams, plus exciting backs, but primarily they produce great forwards and great scrummagers. That is the legacy of Georgian rugby.”

Whether Georgia will go wide remains in doubt, but the same is not true of Scotland as they prepare to play Wales, Italy, France and Fiji. Scotland have accordingly chosen a mobile, lightweight back row of Hamish Watson, Jamie Ritchie and Matt Fagerson to operate in the wide areas, and have selected a back division which has a running threat at stand-off in Adam Hastings – with Finn Russell on the bench – and then a free-running all-Edinburgh back three which includes debutant wing Duhan van der Merwe, a 6ft 4in colossus who was the form winger in the Pro14 last season.

The one area where Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has decided to use this game to experiment is with a new centre partnership which pairs Chris Harris at 13 with versatile Quins threequarter James Lang, who wins just his third cap, and his first at Murrayfield, at inside centre in the absence of the incumbent Sam Johnson.

For all Scotland’s attacking instincts and Georgia’s tendency to keep it tight, it would be too easy to characterise this as a contest between the bludgeon and the rapier. If past matches between these two sides are any guide, Scotland will need to keep it tight, match the visitors up front and show huge patience before taking advantage when the opportunities present themselves. And thankfully for Scotland, against Georgia they always do.