One of the criticisms that has been levelled is they look under-cooked, an allegation that rings true for all of the Six Nations teams.

But while O’Sullivan accepts his side are off the pace, he insists he had little alternative but to take the approach he did in the build up to the tournament.

“If the northern hemisphere sides have erred a little bit it’s been in terms of playing rugby,” he said.

“We’ve spent the summer preparing but not playing rugby. We are short of match practice, all of the home unions have been.

“The only thing we could have done differently was probably put out our strongest team against Scotland last month.

“But that would have meant making decisions on the last few places available in the World Cup squad on the blind, and that would have been harsh on the players in the mix.

“We also had a few niggling injuries that meant we were not able to put out our strongest team – guys like Gordon D’Arcy and Marcus Horan were unavailable.

“It’s easy to say now that if we could wind the clock back maybe would have done things slightly differently.

“But we weren’t to know then we wouldn’t hit the ground running – and we’re not the only team not to hit the ground running.”

Georgia’s line-up contains 14 professionals contracted to French clubs and they will offer dogged resistance at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.

“After playing the way we did against Namibia and knowing there is a need to improve, there is a danger nerves could be a problem,” said O’Sullivan.

“That’s the challenge that goes with the territory. It is something we have to look at because we’ve rarely played that badly in the past.

“There is extra pressure. But training has been very physical this week. We had a hard hit out on Tuesday morning and we let the players get on with it because they needed it.”

There have been calls for the number of teams competing at the World Cup to be reduced to 16 out of concern the pool stages would be over-run with mis-matches.

But so far the emerging nations have acquitted themselves well and O’Sullivan has been impressed by their efforts.

“What’s been interesting about this World Cup is that a lot of teams regarded as minnows have got stuck into the top sides,” he said.

“We have to accept that’s the way it’s going to be. The smaller teams are a lot fitter than they were in previous years.

“Most are playing professionally too. They’re not the minnows people are saying they are.

“These games are not won until the last half hour, if the ground work is put in during the first hour.

“That’s what cost us against Namibia. It was a good lesson for us.

“Couple that with the fact we’re short of match practice and you have a situation you must pick your way out of. I think it will be like that.”