Uruguay overpowered by Georgia in Kumagaya heat

Uruguay were defeated 33-7 by Georgia in their second pool match of the Rugby World Cup at Kumagaya on Sunday. The searing heat forced water breaks at the midpoint of each half for the first time in the tournament. With only three days rest following their historic win over Fiji, Los Teros simply could not summon the strength to compete with the power of the Lelo forwards.

The Georgian scrum was dominant from the outset. After a line break from Gela Aprasidze earned field position, the set piece won a penalty to set up a simple attacking move that yielded a try for Sandro Todua in the corner. Tedo Abzhandadze missed the extras but the signs were ominous for Los Teros.

It would be some time before another score came as Uruguay gave their all to stay in the game. At last it was Otar Giorgadze who powered over , but just as it seemed Georgia would start to pull away Los Teros pulled some magic out their hat. A set move put Andrés Vilaseca in under the posts to make it a five-point game at halftime.

Any petrol left in the Uruguayan tank was well and truly used up in the second half. Georgia scored two tries quickly through their forwards, the first by Levan Chilachava after another big scrum and the second from Jaba Bregvadze on the end of a lineout drive. Giorgi Kveseladze followed up an Abzhandadze kick ahead to wrap up the scoring.

A late incident has likely ended the tournament for one of Uruguay’s forwards. Replacement front rower Facundo Gattas was given a red card for a head-high shoulder charge with only three minutes left on the clock. His fate will be decided by the judiciary this week.

With their chances for a second win now almost certainly gone, Los Teros will face a step up in competition against Australia in Oita on Saturday. Georgia are back in the hunt for automatic qualification but will need to beat Fiji in Osaka on Thursday.

 

SCORING

GEORGIA 33
Tries – S. Todua (8’), O. Giorgadze (29’), L. Chilachava (43’), J. Bregvadze (52’), G. Kveseladze (58’)
Cons – T. Abzhandadze 4/5 (30’, 44’, 53’, 59’)

URUGUAY 7
Tries – A. Vilaseca (32’)
Cons – F. Berchesi 1/1 (33’)
Pens – F. Berchesi 0/1

 

TEAMS

GEORGIA
1 Guram Gogichashvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze (capt.) (16 Vano Karkadze 65’), 3 Levan Chilachava (18 Giorgi Melikidze 48’), 4 Lasha Lomidze, 5 Kote Mikautadze (19 Mamuka Gorgodze 59’), 6 Shalva Sutiashvili (20 Beka Gorgadze 77′), 7 Beka Saghinadze, 8 Otar Giorgadze, 9 Gela Aprasidze (21 Vaso Lobzhanidze 68′), 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 11 Sandro Todua, 12 Lasha Malaguradze (22 Merab Sharikadze 59’), 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 14 Zurab Dzneladze, 15 Lasha Khmaladze (23 Soso Matiashvili 72′)

Not used: 17 Beka Gigashvili

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (16 Facundo Gattas 46’), 2 Germán Kessler (17 Juan Echeverría 59’), 3 Juan Pedro Rombys (18 Diego Arbelo 46’), 4 Ignacio Dotti (19 Diego Magno 63’), 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.) (21 Manuel Ardao 59’), 7 Santiago Civetta (20 Juan Diego Ormaechea 59’), 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata (22 Agustín Ormaechea 72′), 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat (2 Germán Kessler 78′), 14 Nicolás Freitas (22 Agustín Ormaechea 63’-72′), 15 Gastón Mieres (23 Leandro Leivas HT)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)