Under-21 World Cup/Ireland v Georgia: Having come close but not close enough in either of their World Cup pool matches to date, Ireland's under-21s will be hoping to finish off with a significant victory over Georgia in this afternoon's final group game at Issoire.
Despite their outstanding physical efforts against France and Argentina in the last eight days, successive defeats without so much as a bonus point have left coach Mark McDermott's side with no chance of reaching the semi-finals of the competition.
However, if they can rack up the points against the tournament minnows at Stade du Mas this afternoon, they could avoid the indignity of playing off, next week, for one of the lower places in the competition.
With the prevailing heatwave in mind and players still recovering from their exploits on Tuesday, McDermott has made nine changes to the team that went down to the Pumas.
Michael Diffley, Stuart Philpott, Paul Doran Jones, Dan Touhy, Michael Essex and Billy Holland come into the pack.
Scrumhalf Duncan Williams, outhalf Jonathan Sexton and centre Darren Cave are included behind.
"There is nothing left to play for in terms of trying to make the last four," said team manager Niall O'Shea,
"But if we are to gain a place in that middle section of the competition, we need to win this game well and hope that other results go our way.
IRELAND: F Carr; I Hanly, D Cave, F McFadden, M Williams; J Sexton, D Williams; M Diffley, S Philpott (capt), P Doran Jones; D Touhy, D McGowan; M Essex, D Laffan, B Holland. Replacements: S Cronin, D Ryan, D Toner, D Pollock, M Darcy, C Doyle, T Gleeson.
