Drowning in Denver but training goes on

Torrential rain in the Mile High City, Denver, on Tuesday did not dampen the Georgia national team's preparations for the fast-approaching Churchill Cup.

When America's premier XV-a-side tournament featuring Argentina Jaguars, Canada, England Saxons, Georgia, Ireland A and the United States Eagles, gets underway at Glendale's Infinity Park on Saturday, Georgia faces a stern test versus Canada.

With a share of new faces joining the squad, the 13th ranked Georgian team braved the elements at Infinity Park to ramp up preparations for its Saturday match.

The learning curve for the newcomers must be high, as the team faces a win-hungry Canadian team fresh off a tough loss versus Wales.

Georgia head coach Tim Lane said: "Our time in Colorado has been good so far - we have a lot of new guys training with us since a lot of our more experienced players are missing this tournament for the French Championships.

"Although it's a bit disappointing not to have our top team assembled, this is an important opportunity for us. We need to develop our depth for the Rugby World Cup coming up in 2011."

In the first round of pool play, Saturday's action at Infinity Park also features England Saxons versus the Argentina Jaguars on Saturday.

The defending Churchill Cup champions England Saxons got straight into training at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the Englishmen refused to let a little rain deter them from their training.

"The weather is not what we were expecting but it's no different to a rainy day in London," said England Saxons head coach, Stuart Lancaster."It hasn't affected our preparation in any way and the players have adapted really well."

Having arrived in Denver on Monday the Saxons have just four days to get ready for their showdown against the Jaguars at Infinity Park.

"We have been really pleased with how the players have trained. Our time is quite limited because our first match is on Saturday so we have to be smart and not just train on field, but off field too," continued Lancaster.

"We will train once on Wednesday ahead of our squad announcement, which I expect to be a good mix and a team that will put in a competent performance on Saturday."

"I haven't been able to see much of Denver yet and obviously we are concentrating on this weekend but it has a fantastic reputation and I'm looking forward to seeing more as the weeks go on."

After touching down from Buenos Aires on Monday, Argentina twice battled the wind and rain at Infinity Park to fine-tune for the weekend.

"We're looking forward to our match against England on Saturday and this is the first of two training sessions for us today," said Argentina Jaguars manager Franco Rossi.

"I'm really happy with the facilities and the people we've met here so far."

Following the event kick-off on Saturday, Infinity Park, Glendale - the first municipally-owned rugby-specific stadium in North America - will showcase two more days of doubleheader pool matches on June 10 and 14.

These pool stages will be followed by a triple-header finals day at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer side, on June 21.

Churchill Cup 2009:

Pool A: Canada, Georgia, Ireland A
Pool B: Argentina Jaguars, England Saxons, United States

Fixtures (kick-off times local; GMT - six hours):

Saturday, June 6
Infinity Park, Glendale
England Saxons v Argentina Jaguars (14.15)
Canada v Georgia (16.30)

Wednesday, June 10
Infinity Park, Glendale
Canada v Ireland A (16.30)
USA v Argentina Jaguars (19.00)

Sunday June 14
Infinity Park, Glendale
USA v England Saxons (13.00)
Georgia v Ireland A (15.30)

Sunday June 21
Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Churchill Cup finals (12.05, 14.30, 16.45)