Rugby: Georgia win historic clash

PALMERSTON NORTH: Georgia beat Romania 25-9 in a World Cup Pool B match to triumph in what was the first ever World Cup clash between two teams from eastern Europe. In a penalty-strewn encounter, fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili grabbed 17 points with the boot as flanker Mamuka Gorgodze scored the only try of the match early in the second half. “This was really the game we wanted to win,” said Georgian captain Irakli Abuseridze. It was just the second time that Georgia had won a World Cup match after they defeated Namibia four years ago in France, and it sent Romania home with four straight defeats.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2011.