Rugby World Cup 2019: Georgia were at a tipping point before defeating Uruguay, claims Haig

Georgia coach Milton Haig believes he did not put too much pressure on his side by claiming their Rugby World Cup clash with Uruguay was a must-win.

Uruguay were flying high after stunning Fiji, but Georgia came out on top 33-7 in Pool D, claiming their first win of the tournament.

Haig had stated his belief that Georgia, who were defeated by Wales in their opening match, had to triumph against the South Americans if they stood any chance of progressing from a pool which also includes Australia.

The coach, who will leave his post at the end of Georgia’s World Cup campaign, acknowledged his comments may have backfired, but was delighted with the reaction of his players.

“It was just stating facts really, we were at a tipping point,” Haig told a news conference.

“Obviously if you lose this match everything we’d worked at for so long would have gone down the tubes. Obviously that put pressure on the players, I’m pretty sure it did but that was the reaction I wanted.

“When you’re under pressure you either use it as motivation or use it as a hindrance so I wanted to see how the boys would respond and I think they responded pretty well today.

“We’re still a work in progress, no doubt about that but after my eight years, I finish at the end of this World Cup, as long as I know I can walk away knowing I’ve given my all and made my players better then I’ll be happy.”

“We’ve worked so hard over the last four months, even four years…”

Head coach Milton Haig credits his side after @GeorgianRugby beat Uruguay to get their first win at #RWC2019#GEOvURU pic.twitter.com/JY1JcocFoI

— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 29, 2019

Georgia’s players were left frustrated after full-time, however, when a Russian song was played in celebration of their victory, with captain Jabba Bregvadze telling reporters: “I want to take this moment to ask the person who played the Russian music, next time don’t make the mistake again, please.”

Haig added: “They were playing a song after the match that was a Russian song, sung by a Georgian singer but it is a Russian song.

“Again, we want to make it clear that Russia is not Georgia, Georgia is not Russia. We have a different language, different culture, different everything, so World Rugby, please make sure you get these sort of things ironed out for us.”

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