The Georgia national rugby union team beat Uruguay 19:10 at Tbilisi Cup.

It was obvious that both teams would fight unit the end but the Georgians started playing so that fans were ready for easy victory. The South Americans provoked the Georgians and three Georgians were sin-binned. Italian referee made decisions in favor of Uruguay. However, Georgia managed to beat Uruguay.

At the 7^th minute Kote Mikautadze scored a try. Uruguay tried the first provocation but Kote was not provoked. Tsiklauri used a conversion and the Georgians advanced 7:0.

At the 12^th minute Tsiklauri increased score with penalty. Soon Ormaechea minimized score with penalty. The referee sin-binned Nika Khatiashvili due to rude tackle. At the 30^th minute Uruguay made an offence. Lasha Lomidze tackled the opponent without a ball. The referee punished us with penalty try and showed yellow card to Lomidze. Ormaechea equalized score with conversion.

Khatiashvili was back in two minutes. Tsiklauri scored a penalty and the first half finished.

The Georgians played more aggressively in the second half. The Uruguayans tried to provoke Lomdze and they could not manage it. However, they managed to provoke Giorgi Chkhaidze who was sin-binned. Tsiklauri scored a penalty from 22 meters. At the 78^th minute Malaguradze scored another penalty and Georgia won 19:10.

Press conference

Santiago Vilaseca (captain of the Uruguay national team): “We made a lot of mistakes in defence. We tried to improve them in the second half but could not manage it.

Pablo Lemoine (head coach of the Uruguay national team): “We made some silly mistakes. Despite this, I praised the boys after the match because they held a tough match. We faced a very strong team”.

Milton Haig (head coach of the Georgia national team): “After the first half I told the boys to be more aggressive. We did not have enough time to prepare for this match. We will try to hold the next match better”.

Levan Datunashvili (captain of the Georgia national team): “We expected that the opponent would play aggressively. We all fought till the end. Today I was a captain of “The Lelos” for the first time and it is a huge responsibility. I want to thank my teammates, new players who did everything for this victory. We will try to do more in the next match”.

On June 17 Georgia will play “Rising Italy” which beat “Rising Ireland” 25:0 in the first match.

Tbilisi Cup 2015. I round

13 June

Rising Italy – Rising Ireland 0:25

Georgia - Uruguay 19:10 (13:10)

Georgia: 15. Beka Tsiklauri, 14. Giorgi Aptsiauri, 13. Rezo Gigauri (23. Tamaz Mchedlidze 63), 12. Merab Sharikadze (22. Giorgi Talakhadze 79), 11. Giorgi Pruidze, 10. Lasha Malaguradze, 9. Giorgi Begadze (21. Vazha Khutsishvili 63); 1. Giorgi Tetrashvili (17. Archil Bezhiashvili 60), 2. Jaba Bregvadze (16. Giorgi Tedoradze 79), 3. Nika Khatiashvili (18. Irakli Mirtskhulava 71), 4. Levan Datunashvili (cap.), 5. Kote Mikautadze (19. Giorgi Chkhaidze 54), 6. Saba Shubitidze (Mirtskhulava 25-31; 20. Beka Gorgadze 60), 7. Lasha Lomidze, 8. Beka Bitsadze.

1 try: Mikautadze

1 conversion: Tsiklauri

4 penalties: Tsiklauri (3), Malaguradze

3 sin-binned: Khatiashvili (21), Lomidze (31), Chkhaidze (60)

Uruguay: 15. Gaston Mieres, 14. Leandro Leivas (23. Jeronimo Etcheverry 53), 13. Joaquin Prada, 12. Alberto Roman, 11. Santiago Gilbernau, 10. Manuel Blengio (22. Alejo Duran 71), 9. Agustin Ormaechea; 1. Alejo Corral (18. Mateo Sanguinetti 63), 2. Nicolas Klappenbach (16. German Kessler 47), 3. Mario Sagario (17. Carlos Arboleya 47), 4. Santiago Vilaseca (cap.), 5. Jorge Zerbino (19. Mathias Palomeque 73), 6. Matias Beer (21. Mathias Braun 73), 7. Fernando Bascou (20. Diego Magno 53), 8. Juan Gaminara.

1 try: penalty

1 conversion: Ormaechea

1 sin-binned: Zerbino (51)

Referee: Marius Mitrea

Assistants: Shota Tevzadze, Sulkhan Chikhladze

17 June. II round

Rising Ireland – Uruguay

Georgia – Rising Italy