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Georgia got one back on Uruguay this morning. The Georgian u20s were 20-8 winners over Los Teritos in the Bronze Final of the International Series in South Africa. Uruguay had one the earlier encounter between the teams 20-15.
Los Teritos were the first on the scoresheet. Sebastian Gomez Platero landed an early drop-goal. The Eastern Europeans responded with force. A maul saw Georgia forcing Uruguay back. The result was a try which Giorgi Maisuradze converted.
Uruguay were frustrated both with their start and with the scoresheet. It boiled over as Peñarol’s Juan Manuel Alonso was sent-off for foul play. The incident meant that Los Teritos were down to 14-men early on in the contest.
The result was one less back to defend and notably one less center. Georgia were able to turn it into their favor; Tornike Kakhoidze ran over to score their second try.
Uruguay were improved in the second half; albeit, Georgia extended their lead before Uruguay found their way into the opposition’s try zone.
Uruguayan winger Bautista Basso burst a tackle and then ran past two other Georgian defenders to score. His try made it a 20-8 scoreline. It came late as just five minutes remained in the contest.
⚡️ Bautista Basso 🇺🇾 #VamosTeritos pic.twitter.com/Qu9pDjR6t2
— Los Teritos (@Teritos_URU) July 3, 2021
Georgia’s victory was their first, and only of the tournament. They finished in third position ahead of Los Teritos. Uruguay return home with a 1-3 record, the same as that of the Georgians. The results matter little in the grand scheme of things; rather, the opportunity of preparing more players for senior level competition is the prime factor, and purpose, of the tournament.
The win over Uruguay was the second positive for Georgia rugby in the past 24 hours. The Lelos test side gave South Africa a competitive opening half. The final scoreline of 40-9 was far from a negative; indeed, such a result was very different to that of other Tier 1 vs Tier 2 matches this weekend thus far.
A solid 24 hours from 🇬🇪Georgia.
1st, the Lelos made the world champions 🇿🇦South Africa earn their points.
2nd, the u20s defeated 🇺🇾Uruguay to finish third in the Intl Series u20s and made up for their earlier loss to Uruguay.
Progress for and money well invested by 🇬🇪+🇺🇾.
— Paul Tait (@AmericasOval) July 3, 2021
