Nam beat host in IRB Nations Cup

THERE were three shock results on the opening day of the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest with Georgia, Namibia and Italy ‘A’ scoring stunning upsets.

Rugby World Cup 2011-bound Georgia upset defending champions Scotland ‘A’ 22-21, Namibia beat hosts Romania 21-17 and Italy ‘A’ overcame Argentina’s second string, the Jaguars 22-20 with all three games taking place at the Arcul de Triumf National Stadium in the Romanian capital.
The third and probably most significant upset of the opening day was the narrow, one-point win for Georgia over the holders Scotland A. The Georgians scored a try through their abrasive lock forward Shalva Sutiashvili and added a few more penalties through the boot of full back David Dadunashvili. In the end, with Scotland replacement Chris Fusaro scoring a try, it was David Blair’s conversion that made the difference between success and failure.
Georgia coach Tim Lane refused to get carried away with the result that followed a 69-3 reverse to the same side last year, commenting, ‘Today defence obviously made the difference and in the next two games we can do more with the ball, but fundamentally we showed a lot of courage in defence, the scrum was good, the line out, so I’m pretty happy.’
‘It’s a very young side, inexperienced in key positions. We have a lot of youngsters there and we beat ourselves so to speak,’ commented Scotland coach Sean Lineen.
‘That’s tough to take; it’s painful, right, but it is true and also proper because in the first half we could score three or four tries and we didn’t. This is more a Scotland development team than a Scotland A team, but the talent is here and we must work hard to develop it.’
Earlier, Namibia wrote a piece of history by defeating the hosts Romania for the first time as well as winning their first ever IRB Nations Cup tie after a nail-biting encounter.
The hosts looked dominant during the early exchanges with an early try by left wing Catalin Fercu but then flattered to deceive. Their inability to score when dominant in the first half cost them dearly after the break as the heat took its toll.
After half time the heavier Romanian pack wilted in the blazing sun and the Namibians bounced back into the game with a well taken try by their lively centre Darryl de la Harpe. For a short while the Romanians stole the lead with a try scored by their pack after a driving maul and converted brilliantly by Dan Dumbrava, but Romanian celebrations we cut short by an extraordinary try by the Namibian right wing Llewellyn Winkler, who sidestepped and dummied his way through a bewildered Romanian defence for the killer blow in injury time.
‘This is our first win in this tournament, in fact the first ever win in any senior IRB tournament, and naturally we are delighted,’ said Namibia coach John Diergaardt.
‘We were hungry, perhaps hungrier than they were, but basically we decided to keep the ball in hand and run it at every opportunity. The local-based players have been working very hard for this and the professionals who play abroad slotted in nicely so we came here really in the right frame of mind as well as very fit.’
In the day’s other clash, a try from blindside flanker Robert Barbieri and 17 points from the boot of outside half Luciano Orquera helped Italy ‘A’ produce the second upset of the day, sensationally defeating the Argentine Jaguars 22-20 in injury time. This was the third encounter between the two sides but the first to be won by the Italians, who celebrated wildly at the end of the match.
A young and ambitious Italian pack ably led by international lock forward Antonio Pavanello set the groundwork for the Italian win, challenging the Jaguars in the set piece and depriving them of the dominant platform they would normally enjoy.
While the scrum was even, the lineout was copiously dominated by the Italians, who also did well at the maul as the match played at a devilish pace with Argentine-born Orquera setting the pace in the loose. With 17 points added to his previous tally of 64, Orquera has consolidated his position as the leading point scorer in the IRB Nations Cup with 81. – scrum.com

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