Georgia defeated Uruguay 33-7 in a Pool D match at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Saitama Prefecture, Kumagaya City on September 29. Georgia had a 12-7 lead at the break.
Next for both teams are Georgia facing Fiji on Thursday, while Uruguay plays Australia on Saturday.
in both team’s opening matches, Wales defeated Georgia 43-14, while Uruguay beat Fiji 30-27.
Match Recap
Georgia faces Uruguay after having five days rest with Los Teros having a short turnaround with three. Uruguay shocked Fiji in their opening match with a victory, while Georgia wants to level their record in the quest for third place in Pool D. Third place in the Pool results in automatic qualification for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
It is a hot day in Kumagaya City with temperatures at 30 degrees Celius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit, with the humidity adding to the discomfort.
Georgia used a break by scrum-half Gela Aprasidze to attack to within meters from in-goal. An Uruguay penalty resulted in a scrum to Georgia. After another penalty by Los Teros, Georgia elected another scrum. With a penalty advantage in effect, the Lelos spun the ball wide left with wing Alexander Todua finishing with a try in the corner to lead 5-0 as Tedo Abzhandadze was to the right of the posts.
The Georgian forwards demonstrated early dominance with a steal of an Uruguay lineout and after driving Los Teros on their back foot on the team’s scrum. They also dominated the scrum on their put-ins.
An Uruguay penalty for a late hit by Mateo Sanguinetti led to a Georgia lineout inside Uruguay territory. The Lelos advanced to within 5-meters of the line, before a penalty for leaving their feet in the breakdown allowed Uruguay to clear.
Uruguay attacked with a Levan Chilachava break and with Berchesi chipping ahead. Georgia covered well and grounded the ball in-goal for a 22-meter drop.
Following a collapsed maul, Georgia attacked from a lineout 5-meters out. After a penalty by Uruguay, Georgia elected a 5-meter scrum. The scrum collapsed and Uruguay was warned that after three infractions, a future infraction would result in a player being sent to the bin.
After the scrum was reset, No.8 Otari Giorgadze added a try after the drive, with fly-half Tedo Abzhandadze adding the extras to lead 12-0.
After a box kick by Georgia, the Lelos were penalized for being offsides. Uruguay attacked from a lineout just outside the Georgian 22-meters. Rodrigo Silva found a gap and offloaded inside to center Andrés Vilaseca for a try with fly-half Felipe Berchesi converting to cut the lead to 12-7.
A high ball was taken by Uruguay scrum-half Arata and after moving the ball wide left, Georgian prop Guram Gogichashvili was penalized for being offsides. This resulted in a penalty goal attempt by Felipe Berchesi that was pushed wide of the posts.
A grub kick by Georgia placed Uruguay under pressure, but the Teros defense covered well and cleared. Georgia attacked from a lineout at Uruguay’s 22-meters, but a knock-on had the teams going into the break.
Uruguay showed their resolve with Georgia dominating territory and possession during the first thirty minutes of the match. The team struck back with a try, which energized the side in back and forth action during the remainder of the half.
The Georgia scrum was dominant and look for the Lelos to try to continue to exploit that during the second half.
Second Half
Georgia opened the second half, kicking to Uruguay with the Teros clearing. A Georgia chip by Abzhandadze was grounded by Silva for a Georgia 5-meter scrum. The Georgian pack surged with Otari Giorgadze picked off the back of the scrum and tighthead prop Levan Chilachava finished with a try with Tedo Abzhandadze adding the extras to lead 19-7.
Both teams went through some back and forth play before Georgia attacked from a lineout inside Uruguay’s 22-meters. With a penalty advantage in effect, Georgia stretched the Uruguayan defense but lost the ball forward. The Lelos kicked to touch and hooker Jaba Bregvadze mauled over the line for a try with Abzhandadze converting to lead 26-7.
A chip by hooker Jaba Bregvadze was fielded by Rodrigo Silva, who was isolated and center Giorgi Kveseladze added a try with Abzhandadze converting again for a 33-7 lead with 21 minutes left.
Uruguay attacked right back with Leandro Leivas crossing into the Georgian 22-meters before the team lost the ball forward, allowing Georgia to clear.
An apparent try by wing Zura Dzneladze from a cross-kick was overruled by have not been in control of the ball after Santiago Arata’s stellar defense.
Vano Karkadze made his debut at hooker for Georgia in the 2019 RWC. At 19, he is the youngest player in the tournament.
Neither team scored during the final 21 minutes of play with Georgia claiming a 33-7 victory.
With the win, Georgia and Uruguay both have 1-1 records. Georgia moved into third place in Pool D with 5 points, with their bonus-point victory. Uruguay is in fourth-place with 4 points, while Fiji trails with 2. Wales tops the standings with 9 points after a 29-25 victory over Australia, who is in second place with 6 points.
Player of the Match honors went to Georgia No. 8 Otari Giogadze.
Squads
Georgia: 1 Guram Gogichashvili 2 Jaba Bregvadze 3 Levan Chilachava 4 Lasha Lomidze 5 Konstantine Mikautadze 6 Shalva Sutiashvili 7 Beka Saginadze 8 Otari Giorgadze 9 Gela Aprasidze 10 Tedo Abzhandadze 11 Alexander Todua 12 Lasha Malguradze 13 Giorgi Kveseladze 14 Zura Dzneladze 15 Lasha Khmaladze 16 Vano Karkadze 17 Beka Gigashuili 18 Giorgi Melikidze 19 Mamuka Gorgodze 20 Beka Gorgadze 21 Vasil Lobzhanidze 22 Merab Sharikadze 23 Soso Matiashvili
Uruguay: 1 Mateo Sanguinetti 2 Germán Kessler 3 Juan Pedro Rombys 4 Ignacio Dotti 5 Manuel Leindekar 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.) 7 Santiago Civetta 8 Alejandro Nieto 9 Santiago Arata 10 Felipe Berchesi 11 Rodrigo Silva 12 Andrés Vilaseca 13 Juan Manuel Cat 14 Nicolás Freitas 15 Gastón Mieres 16 Facundo Gattas 17 Juan Echeverria 18 Diego Arbelo 19 Diego Magna 20 Juan Ormaechea 21 Manuel Ardao 22 Agustín Ormaechea 23 Leandro Leivas
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