Georgia grind out win over Eagles

The Eagles very nearly overcame a 21-3 deficit to fall to an agonizing 21-17 defeat to Georgia at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Saturday. After going into the break 18-3 down and conceding an early penalty in the second half, the USA had the better of the Lelos, scoring two tries and very nearly clawing their way back to an unlikely victory.

A bobbled kick reception bounced perfectly for Merab Kvirikashvili to pick up and sprint 50 meters to score in the corner for the first score. AJ MacGinty opened the United States account but the boot of Kvirikashvili replied with two kicks to MacGinty’s one. The Georgian scrum was totally dominant and just before the break repeat collapses landed Chris Baumann in the bin. With Dino Waldron on as a replacement the next scrum was no different and the referee had no option but to award the penalty try.

The second half started as the first had finished, with Kvirikashvili again firing successfully at the posts. Succeeding in open play, however, proved more difficult for the Lelos as the USA began to earn possession and exert pressure on the Georgian defense.

Repeat phases put Nate Augspurger over in the corner to start the American revival and then Giorgi Tsutskiridze was shown yellow for tackling Mike Te’o in the air. With the man advantage the space opened and it was Te’o who offloaded to Matt Jensen and the replacement lock galloped over for a score that brought the crowd to its feet. Despite regaining possession the Eagles couldn’t quite crack the Georgian line, with Ryan Matyas driven into touch to bring on the final whistle.

While the result was somewhat disappointing the Eagles will take great credit from a positive second half that saw them mitigate the Georgian scrum superiority and achieve dominance in loose play. Next stop is Hamilton for the first match of the Americas 1 World Cup Qualifying series against Canada. Georgia head south to Argentina for an attempt at a clean sweep of the Americas on their historic tour.

 

SCORING

USA 17
Tries – N. Augspurger (57’), M. Jensen (72’)
Cons – A. MacGinty 2/2 (58’, 73’)
Pens – A. MacGinty 1/1 (16’)
Yellow cards – C. Baumann (40’)

GEORGIA 21
Tries – M. Kvirikashvili (9’), Penalty try (40’)
Cons – M. Kvirikashvili 0/1
Pens – M. Kvirikashvili 3/5 (23’, 28’, 43’)
Drop goals – M. Kvirikashvili 0/1
Yellow cards – G. Tsutskiridze (65’)

TEAMS

USA
1 Anthony Purpura (17 Ben Tarr HT), 2 James Hilterbrand (16 Peter Malcolm 53’), 3 Chris Baumann (18 Dino Waldren 50’), 4 Nate Brakeley, 5 Ben Landry, 6 Todd Clever (capt.) (19 Matt Jensen 65’), 7 Tony Lamborn, 8 Cam Dolan (20 Andrew Durutalo 53’), 9 Shaun Davies (23 Ryan Matyas 60’), 10 Will Magie (22 Marcel Brache 53’), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 AJ MacGinty, 13 Bryce Campbell (21 Ben Cima 69’), 14 Matai Leuta (18 Dino Waldren 40’-50’), 15 Mike Te’o

GEORGIA
1 Mikheil Nariashvili (17 Tornike Mataradze 69’), 2 Jaba Bregvadze (16 Shalva Mamukashvili 50’), 3 Levan Chilachava (18 Soso Bekoshvili HT), 4 Giorgi Nemsadze (20 Otar Giorgadze 63’), 5 Kote Mikautadze (19 Giorgi Chkhaidze 50’), 6 Lasha Lomidze, 7 Vito Kolelishvili (23 Giorgi Tsutskiridze 55’), 8 Beka Bitsadze, 9 Vaso Lobzhanidze (21 Giorgi Begadze 60’), 10 Lasha Khmaladze (22 Lasha Malaguradze 73’), 11 Sandro Todua, 12 Merab Sharikadze (capt.), 13 Davit Kacharava, 14 Giorgi Koshadze, 15 Merab Kvirikashvili

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR)
Assistants: Luke Pearce (RFU) & Chris Assmus (RC)
TMO: Neil Paterson (SRU)