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Uruguay edged in Bucharest

Sunday 15th June 2008

Back on Track: Georgia made amends for the loss to Emerging Springboks

Georgia opened their IRB Nations Cup account with a slender 20-18 win over Uruguay at the Arcul de Triumf stadium in Bucharest on Sunday.

In what was the third ever clash between these two proud rugby nations, the Lelos fought back from a narrow half-time deficit to edge a fine encounter full of action and drama.

Georgia's forwards managed to score the only two tries of the match, one in each half, though Teros fly-half Matias Arocena kept his team in contention with his steady place kicking, and could have taken the spoils with the last kick of the game.

As expected the Lelos suffered in the line-out, especially early in the first half when Georgia used their height advantage to good effect to monopolise possession. As a result, Georgia camped in the Uruguay 22, leaving only once they had scored the one and only try of the half through lock forward Giorgi Nemsadze in just the seventh minute.

Strangely the Georgian defence was less potent than in the first match against South Africa's Emerging Springboks, which allowed Uruguay to mount a strong and well-timed recovery.

The South Americans kicked well for territory - notably through full back del Castillo and right wing Nicholas Morales - and were also helped by two Georgian yellow cards shown to centre Alexander Todua and right wing Giorgi Shikinin for fighting. Matias Arocena's three first half penalties ultimately brought Uruguay back into the match and at half time they led 9-7.

The second half started similarly to the first, with Georgia's loose head prop David Gasviani driven over for the only try of the 40 minutes by the dynamic Georgian pack.

The half time break had clearly served the Georgians well and they refound the same level of discipline with which they troubled the South Africa second string on match day one. With that discipline came added control, which made the difference in a very keenly fought finale.

In the end, with the sides playing each other to a standstill, it was the boot of the Georgia fly-half Lasha Malaguradze that made the difference. He converted both tries and landed two penalties within two minutes while Arocena, who had brought Uruguay within a score, failed with his last kick at goal.

"I am very pleased with our fist win in the tournament," said Georgia captain Besarion Udsiani.

"It was a very difficult match against a very strong and talented opponent, and I wish to thank Uruguay for the game.

"I am proud of the boys and I hope we can improve. We scored tries, which is very important."

Uruguay captain Juan Campomar said: "We were a bit unlucky. We missed a few kickable penalties, including one in the last minute, but we made mistakes and that cost us dearly.

"The line-out was our chief weakness but we played better elsewhere.

"It is interesting how much we improved compared to the Romanian game.

"This is what we need. this kind of tournaments that stretch us and offer us opportunity to improve. This is the kind of competition we need to make progress."

The scorers:

For Georgia:
Tries: Nemsadze, Gasviani
Cons: Malaguradze 2
Pens: Malaguradze 2
Drops:

For Uruguay:
Pens: Arocena 6

The teams:

Georgia: 15 Irakli Kiasashvili, 14 Giorgi Shkinin, 13 Alexander Todua, 12 Revaz Gigauri, 11 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 10 Lasha Malaguradze, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Besso Udesiani (c), 7 Irakli Gundishvili, 6 Simon Maisuradze, 5 Kakha Uchava, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Giorgi Khositashvili, 2 Iuri Natriashvili, 1 Dato Gasviani.
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Shota Melikidze, 18 Karlen Asieshvili, 19 Tornike Dzagnidze, 20 Giorgi Rokhvadze, 21 Lasha Khmaladze, 22 Otar Barkalaia.

Uruguay: 15 Agust�n del Castillo, 14 Nicolas Morales, 13 Joaquin Pastore, 12 Juan Mart�n Llovet, 11 Juan Labat, 10 Matias Arocena, 9 Juan Campomar (c), 8 Ignacio Conti, 7 Juan Pablo Orta, 6 Santiago Carracedo, 5 Federico Cap�, 4 Mart�n Espiga, 3 Juan Rombys, 2 Carlos Arboleya Sarazola, 1 Rodrigo Sanchez.
Replacements: 16 Sebastian Levaggi, 17 Nicol�s Klappenbach, 18 Pablo Lemoine, 19 Mario Sagario, 20 Emiliano Caffera, 21 Santiago Rodino, 22 Pablo Bueno.

With thanks to the IRB