Georgia vs Ireland Prediction: Back hosts on handicap

The British & Lions Tour is gathering pace Down Under, but while coach Andy Farrell is focused on that, Paul O'Connell is leading a rejigged Ireland squad on their summer exertions.

Saturday's game is the first of two summer Tests for Ireland, who then travel to Lisbon a week later to face Portugal as O'Connell sets about cutting some new teeth in the green jersey. Read on for my Georgia vs Ireland predictions, complete with the latest odds and team news for the clash in Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi (kick-off 18:00 BST).

Team News

Munster scrum-half Craig Casey will captain Ireland for the first time as he forms a half-back partnership alongside Sam Prendergast.

Tommy O'Brien and Darragh Murray will make their maiden Ireland starts. O'Brien will make his debut in a back three, which includes his provincial colleague Jimmy O'Brien and Jacob Stockdale, who is set to earn his 39th cap.

Murray makes his debut in a second-row partnership alongside Cormac Izuchukwu. Jack Boyle, hooker Gus McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson start in the front row, with Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney and number eight Gavin Coombes named in the back row to complete the starting pack. Stuart McCloskey and Jamie Osborne are set to link up in midfield.

Ireland are without 16 players who are on British & Irish Lions duty in Australia, while captain Caelan Doris and centre Robbie Henshaw are absent due to injury.

Georgia vs Ireland Odds

The hosts are priced at 9/2 to account for the much-changed Ireland side, with O'Connell's selection 1/6 to win and the draw in Tbilisi 22/1.

The handicap is set at 14 points, with both sides at 10/11 and 22/1 the handicap tie.

Georgia +14 @ 10/11

O'Connell admits that his Irish side is 'light in terms of international caps in some areas' but adds that there is a 'nice blend of experience in the squad'.

For now, the challenge of a Summer Tour in a Lions year is bringing in new players and getting them up to speed on the Ireland systems with an eye on the future.

The game will be played at 21:00 local time in Tbilisi, but the hot and humid conditions will be a test in itself for Ireland. Georgia are experienced with lots of players in the side that play in the French Top 14.

They started 2025 with five wins, proving themselves 'best of the rest' outside the traditional Six Nations combatants in European rugby as they cemented a place in the 2027 World Cup.

Last summer, they beat Japan and stayed within 11 points of Australia in Sydney. With so much of Ireland's top-tier talent absent, and a bearpit atmosphere likely in Tbilisi, the hosts can be trusted to be within 14 points at the finish of an Irish side in which 11 of the starting 15 have fewer than 10 caps.

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