Georgia on a roll

PARIS – As if it were not hard enough already, Georgia’s wonderful display against Ireland on Saturday has added an even tougher dimension to Pool D.

The Georgians came desperately close to what would have been the biggest upset in tournament history when they lost 14-10 to the sixth-ranked Irish having earlier pushed Argentina all the way in their opening game. The former Soviet republic earned a lot of respect when they made their World Cup debut four years ago, with England saying they took longer to recover physically from their meeting than after any other game of the tournament and South Africa having to work hard to hold off a second-half fightback.Argentina’s bonus-point victory over them last week now looks a more impressive performance by the Pumas, who will be delighted to have got the game under their belt early on.With a touch more guile they could easily have snatched victory in Bordeaux as they had Ireland hanging on desperately in the final minutes.”When you look at the statistics, Georgia had 70 per cent possession,” said captain Ilia Zedginidze.”At the end it was a shame we couldn’t get another score and though Ireland defended really well we are all disappointed not to have won it.”An intercept try by winger Giorgi Shkinin had Georgia 8-7 ahead early in the second half and though Ireland escaped with the win it was a significant performance for the losers.”It’s very inspiring,” said Zedginidze.”Obviously this can give us more opportunities and propel us forward.”As a national team I feel we do not have as much confidence as we should, the players are still too tense before meeting big teams.”This will help though and in future matches we can show we have much more ambition.We still haven’t shown everything we’re capable of doing.Nampa-ReutersThe former Soviet republic earned a lot of respect when they made their World Cup debut four years ago, with England saying they took longer to recover physically from their meeting than after any other game of the tournament and South Africa having to work hard to hold off a second-half fightback.Argentina’s bonus-point victory over them last week now looks a more impressive performance by the Pumas, who will be delighted to have got the game under their belt early on.With a touch more guile they could easily have snatched victory in Bordeaux as they had Ireland hanging on desperately in the final minutes.”When you look at the statistics, Georgia had 70 per cent possession,” said captain Ilia Zedginidze.”At the end it was a shame we couldn’t get another score and though Ireland defended really well we are all disappointed not to have won it.”An intercept try by winger Giorgi Shkinin had Georgia 8-7 ahead early in the second half and though Ireland escaped with the win it was a significant performance for the losers.”It’s very inspiring,” said Zedginidze.”Obviously this can give us more opportunities and propel us forward.”As a national team I feel we do not have as much confidence as we should, the players are still too tense before meeting big teams.”This will help though and in future matches we can show we have much more ambition.We still haven’t shown everything we’re capable of doing.Nampa-Reuters