Milton Haig: 'Georgia victory down to hard work'

Georgia head coach Milton Haig has attributed his side's 17-10 victory over Tonga to his players' workrate and fitness.

The Europeans opened their Rugby World Cup campaign with a surprise triumph at Kingsholm to give themselves a chance of pushing New Zealand and Argentina for the two qualification spots in Pool C.

Georgia were forced to withstand a late siege from the Pacific Islanders to cling on to their advantage, and Haig was quick to praise his side's hard work and determination throughout the match.

When asked what he put the victory down to, Haig told Sports Mole: "A lot of bloody hard work! From all the coaches, from all the players themselves.

"The last three months have been pretty hard for the players, for everyone involved. Strength and conditioning-wise, our game is the best prepared side ever to leave Georgia to compete in a World Cup, and certainly when we got to leave our country we thought we were in that position.

"I thought today showed that as well because fitness-wise, we were able to sustain our defence over the 80 minutes and that allowed us to come away with the win."

The victory was only Georgia's third ever in a World Cup, and the first against a side ranked higher than them in the world standings.