GEORGIA ON THE RWC STAGE
2015 was the year that Georgia truly came of age as a Rugby World Cup team.
By dominating the European Nations Cup under the watchful eye of their coach Milton Haig, the Lelos had gained nearly four rating points and moved up to 13th in the World Rugby Rankings in the four-yearly cycle between tournaments.
New Zealander Haig set his side a target of two wins in England and they duly obliged, beating Tonga and Namibia, to double their tally from their past three appearances and secure their place at RWC 2019.
Georgia will be competing at their fifth consecutive tournament in Japan having first appeared in Australia in 2003 after qualifying at Russia’s expense.
Despite being paired in Pool C with pre-tournament favourites and eventual world champions England, 1995 winners South Africa, Samoa and Uruguay, Georgia gave a good account of themselves on their debut.
Their inaugural campaign began in encouraging fashion against England, the Lelos’ pack matching their opponents at times in the scrum and even managing the occasional moral victory. After eight minutes the scores were tied at 3-3 before England’s superior class and fitness told and they found another gear to run in a dozen tries and win 84-6. Fly-half Pavle Jimsheladze scored all of Georgia’s points via two penalties and a drop goal as they then went down to a 46-9 defeat in their second match against Samoa.
South Africa provided further formidable opposition as Georgia’s campaign switched from Perth to the Aussie Stadium in Sydney. The Springboks duly won 46-19 but, like England and Samoa, it took them a while to break down Georgia’s dogged defence.
At one stage, the Georgians were less than two scores behind their much-vaunted opponents, hooker David Dadunashvili shrugging off the pain of a dislocated shoulder to score his side’s first RWC try. Come the final whistle, Georgia received a standing ovation from the locals and the players responded as if they had won the Webb Ellis Cup. Georgia’s first RWC experience came to a disappointing conclusion though, when they lost 24-12 to Uruguay in the battle of the winless teams.
Georgia made it through to RWC 2007 in France after a thrilling two-legged play-off victory over Portugal. Handed another tough draw, Georgia found themselves in Pool D alongside hosts France, an Argentina side that would go on to claim the bronze medal, Ireland and Namibia. After a try-less first half in Lyon, Argentina finally found their stride to cross the whitewash on four occasions and beat Georgia 33-3.
A full house at the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux thought they were going to be privy to the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history as Georgia led Ireland 10-7 with less than half an hour to go. Girvan Dempsey’s try spared Ireland’s blushes, although they still had to rely on a late TMO verdict going their way to avoid the ignominy of defeat.
Buoyed by this near-miss, Georgia headed north to Lens to play Namibia. They had the upper hand from the off, tries from Akvsenti Giorgadze, Irakli Machkhaneli and Davit Kacharava together with 15 points from the boot of Merab Kvirikashvili earning them their first-ever RWC win. The final pool fixture against France proved a match too far for Georgia, the host nation winning 64-7 in Marseilles.
Spearheaded by the considerable frame of Mamuka Gorgodze, Georgia’s pack boasted French Top 14 experience virtually across the board at RWC 2011 in New Zealand. However, they were out-muscled in wet conditions in their opener against Scotland in Invercargill. The 15-6 defeat was particularly disappointing for Georgia’s Scottish coach Richie Dixon, who had left the SRU two years earlier following the best part of four decades of service as a player and coach.
Georgia’s remaining Pool B fixtures brought defeats against England (41-10) and Argentina (25- 7), after the Lelos had led 7-5 at the break, with a 25-9 win against familiar foes Romania sandwiched in between.
Haig came in as head coach after RWC 2011 and set about adding an attacking edge to Georgia’s power game upfront. While they only scored five tries at RWC 2015, taking their overall tally to only 14 in 16 matches, there are definite signs of progress in this area.
An inspired performance by captain and talisman Gorgodze helped them to a 17-10 victory in their opening game against Tonga on a balmy and, at times, barmy afternoon at Kingsholm in Gloucester. Georgia stayed on in the West Country rugby citadel to face Argentina and for 45 minutes they were in the game at 14-9 down. However, Los Pumas piled on the points once Gorgodze was yellow-carded and ran out 54-9 winners.
A combination of the All Blacks errors and fierce resistance from the men in red kept the final score down to 43-10 when Georgia met the world champions in Cardiff, with full-back Beka Tsiklauri’s fifth-minute score from a turnover on halfway the highlight of a match that saw Gorgodze named man of the match.
Georgia needed to see off Namibia in Exeter in order to realise their target and they went about it the hard way, conceding 10 points in the final 10 minutes before hanging on to win 17-16. It was a far cry from the 30-0 win they managed against the Welwitschias at RWC 2007, but they’d done enough to achieve third-place in Pool C and qualify directly for Japan 2019.
RECORD BREAKERS
Scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze became the youngest player in Rugby World Cup history when he took to the field against Tonga at RWC 2015 aged 18 years and 340 days, beating the record held by US Eagles back Thretton Palamo.
HIGH
Beating the higher-ranked Tonga at RWC 2015. It was only their third win in Rugby World Cup history – Namibia in 2007 and Romania in 2011 were their other scalps – and came following tries by captain Mamuka Gorgodze and his back-row colleague Giorgi Tkhilaishvili.
LOW
Georgia clearly weren’t comfortable being cast in the unusual role as favourites going into their RWC 2003 pool match against Uruguay. They made mistake after mistake in a forgettable match, which ended in a 24-12 loss to the South Americans.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
“This day is the best day yet for Georgian rugby, and all of Georgia. We don’t even know what to expect of our celebrations. It’s our first victory – we’re amateurs at winning!” Flanker Rati Urushadze talking after Georgia’s first-ever RWC win against Namibia in 2007.
STATS-AMAZING
Merab Kvirikashvili is only the second player from a tier two nation to play in 15 games at the Rugby World Cup, the other being Samoa’s Brian Lima (18).
The pool draw for Rugby World Cup 2019 takes place in Kyoto, Japan, on 10 May, 2017. Join the Front Row HERE to be the first to receive all the latest news and ticketing updates for Japan 2019 and follow @RugbyWorldCup.