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Ireland scrape past Georgia
BORDEAUX, 15 September - Ireland escaped from the Stade Chaban-Delmas with a narrow 14-10 victory over Georgia on Saturday, keeping alive their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals thanks to tries by hooker Rory Best and full back Girvan Dempsey.
They failed though to get the bonus point they had been targeting from the Pool D match, and were lucky to emerge with the victory against a Georgian outfit who gave their all from start to finish and thoroughly deserved the standing ovation they received at the end.
Georgia sensed their first ever IRB Rugby World Cup victory and pounded the Irish line for phase upon phase, but couldn't find the breakthrough. However, Georgia still left the field with their first ever RWC point, the bonus point for losing by less than seven points - their lowest ever margin of defeat at a RWC.
They could though have been celebrating that elusive victory - and dealt Ireland's quarter-final hopes a huge blow - with fly half Merab Kvirikashvili having missed a penalty and four drop goals, along with one attempt by wing Giorgi Shkinin.
Instead Ireland live to fight another day, but will need to find their form before facing France and Argentina.
Ireland had taken 17 minutes to break down the resolute Georgian defence, a drive from a line-out parting to allow hooker Rory Best to dive over for the try with fly half Ronan O'Gara converting to make it 7-0.
O'Gara missed a penalty from just inside the Georgian half after 21 minutes and things got worse for Ireland when flanker David Wallace was sent to the sin bin by referee Wayne Barnes (ENG), giving Kvirikashvili his chance to kick his first successful penalty in the 38th minute.
That kick brought up the 50-point mark in RWC history for Georgia and the score remained 7-3 at half time.
Ireland emerged for the second half with a little more impetus to their play, but it was Georgia who took the lead when wing Shkinin intercepted a long pass by scrum half Peter Stringer to Brian O'Driscoll and raced 70m to score Georgia's first try of RWC 2007.
Kvirikashvili kicked the conversion to give Georgia the lead for the first time, just before Wallace returned from the sin bin after a 10-point turnaround in his absence. Ireland were momentarily shellshocked, turning over the ball and losing their own throw at the line-out.
Georgia threatened to score another try when they won a line-out five metres out, but they lost the ball and Ireland flanker Wallace charged up field, the ball eventually finding its way to full back Dempsey to hand off scrum half Bidzina Samkharadze and touch the ball down in the 55th minute.
The floodgates might have been expected to open as Ireland tried to wrestle control of a match they had been looking to claim a bonus point from, but the Georgians refused to buckle, turning ball over and driving Ireland back time and time again with some pinpoint kicking.
WTF Ireland, this was a real shock, and with france and the Pumas to come i believe they have a lot of work to do...And Georgia, take a bow, well done...
Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....
I'll be whistling "Sweet Georgia Brown" to every Irishman I meet over the next few days.
But then I'm a bastard.
no wonder they want to kick the "minnows" out of the tournament..
good showing, georgia
for shame, ireland
I had Ireland as my "smokie", a chance of knocking the AB's out at the quarters.
What TF is going on there? Those training sessions in a freezer in Poland really worked well.![]()
"Ireland call for RWC to be reduced to top 9"
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
I'm blaming the new jerseys, it's the only things that's changed since their awesome "Spring tour" and 6N effort.
Are they wearing the same style as the Wallabies?
Laura Force Addict v Chook scrabble-off on Facebook: laura & Force Addict 0 | chook 9
Gigsa made me do it
"He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty." – Lao Tzu
Yup, but we make it work (except in the scrum).
Damn, Group A's pretty tight at the moment!!
Couldnt believe the score when i got up this morning....good on Georgia!
Who cares, its only Ireland. Bunch of four leaf clover smoking leprechaun exploiting Guinness drinkers. Bah humbug.
Laura Force Addict v Chook scrabble-off on Facebook: laura & Force Addict 0 | chook 9
Gigsa made me do it
"He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty." – Lao Tzu
On current world rankings, that would discount Scotland!Originally Posted by Burgs
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Well done for the win Ireland but a lot of work needs to be done if they're going to challenge one of the top nations. At this rate, they'll struggle to get out of their group.
Big congrats to Georgia for putting up such a strong performance. Maybe a future case for a 2-tier European competition (2 groups of 4 and add Georgia & Romania) with promotion/relegation.
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!!
Was more a ref to 3N + 6N but would have been too long a "heading"
But...I guess, if the hat fits...
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
I'm so proud of Georgia!!
I can finally whip out the jersey I got in 2003 and wear it with pride!
Always so great to see the underdogs give the big guns a bit of a scare.![]()
I made Happy sad...