Exultation for Georgia, despair for England Photo: Facebook in Tbilisi after another significant victory for their country.
This game with the flip was the second in a two-legged series serving as a warm-up for the Under-20 Rugby World Cup starting in South Africa later this month.
England won 41-36 at home in the first leg on Saturday but this time could not resist a determined rebuff from the hosts, Mark Mapletoft's second appearance as manager. The alarming result follows fourth place in the Six Nations behind Italy for this age group at the start of the season.
Despite leading 14-0 and 24-14 at various stages in the first half, the tourists succumbed to a late brace from back-line replacement Andro Dvali, and the Georgian defense held their own to secure a 40-38 triumph. The feat is made all the more impressive given the high respect the current under-20 team currently receives at Twickenham.
The Mapletoft team is now heading to the World Cup where they are in a tough pool with Australia and Fiji, and also Ireland, six-nation Grand Slam champions.
Georgia, whose senior side beat Italy and Wales over the past year, thrashed Scotland 55-17 at that level in 2022 and were drawn into a group with Italy this summer , South Africa and Argentina.
Amazon Prime will stream the World Cup match in England in warm mode. Mentorship
England started in perfect fashion at lunchtime on Thursday. Left winger Alex Wills intercepted a shot from Connor Slevin and put them ahead a few seconds later. They opened the score 14-0 when Afolabi Fasogbon took advantage of Joe Jenkins' relief.
However, the exit from Georgia was completed by scrimmage midfielder and skipper David Khuroshvili, and the score was equalized before the end of the first quarter after Petre Khutisishvili added another try after an effective run from wingback Vazha Mikadze and left winger Luka. Tsirekidze.
England struck back again with a skillful detour, which was well completed by the prostitute Finn Theobald-Thomas. Wills soon gained second place thanks to a nimble handling that bolstered Jenkins' charge after the first move to the defensive line.
Trailing 24-14, Georgia rallied on both sides of the break. Nikoloz Lomidze dug into the ground to reward him with a series of muscular punches, and then Luka Kotorashvili took the lead and put his team ahead for the first time.
Players from Georgia are celebrating. Photo: Facebook
Fans from Georgia storm the field. Photo: Facebook
Charlie Bracken is shot by a sniper to give his team hope to hold off their opponents, but Dvali's double, the first attempt after a quick close-range strike and the second after unloading Tsirekidze to limit a smooth attack from long range, arrived at that time how England was reduced to 14 people. Jenkins, who started at full-back, was ruled out by referee Nika Amashukeli for pulling out under heavy pressure from the away side.
Though the selection of Greg Fisilau gave England one last opportunity save themselves, Georgia's defenders are heaped to achieve the loss of the hammer and claim a famous victory.
![](https://thetimeson.ru/wp-content/img/logo1.png)
Свежие комментарии