Scotland 15 Georgia 6:Scotland recorded a second World Cup victory in five days with an attritional triumph over Georgia in Invercargill. The Pool B contest at Rugby Park Stadium was settled by the boot in persistent rain after Scotland's forwards put on a much-improved display following last Saturday's 34-24 opening win over Romania.
Four years after Georgia, coached by ex-Scotland boss Richie Dixon, went close to stunning Ireland before falling to a 14-10 defeat, Andy Robinson’s side refused to buckle. Dan Parks kicked all of Scotland’s points — four penalties from seven attempts and a drop goal — with Merab Kvirikashvili replying with two penalties for Georgia at either end of the game.
After being given a torrid time by Romania, Scotland were stubborn in defence, with the back row of Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch and Kelly Brown outstanding and the front five equally strong.
The victory saw Rory Lawson extend his 100 per cent record as captain and all but secured at least third place in the pool and qualification for the 2015 World Cup in England. It also kept alive Scotland’s hopes of maintaining their record of progressing from the pool stage at every World Cup tournament.
The September 25th clash with Argentina in Wellington and October 1st bout with England in Auckland will determine if Scotland advance. Those contests will likely be tougher tests than that experienced in Invercargill, where Scotland began their second match in five days.
Lawson admitted the win was not pretty but he and his team will leave Invercargill happy after opening their World Cup campaign with two wins.
“The conditions dictated a lot of today,” Lawson said. “We came up against a big old Georgian side who were really determined, really physical, and ultimately it was a workmanlike performance to put them away today.”
Scotland’s defence had come under fire after Saturday’s win over Romania, but looked much more solid at the back today.
“That adds to a little bit of tension,” Lawson said of the criticism. “But we just kept plugging away in the right areas and then took the points when they were on offer.
“It’s a massive hats off to our front five today. They took the Georgian scrum on. A lot has been touched on there but the boys went out and showed what we’re about today.
“We came here looking to get two wins and it’s tough with a four-day turn around, but we got what we came for. Now we prepare for the next challenge.”
Scotland coach Andy Robinson was disappointed with the number of turnovers, but praised the defensive improvements since the weekend.
“It wasn’t going to be pretty at times with the weather and we needed our front five to perform tonight,” he said. “I thought they did that really well. Because we turned the ball over we allowed Georgia to get out of their territory.
“But I was really delighted with the way we defended. We had to step up from last week when we conceded 24 points. That was very disappointing, so it was pleasing to see this. The four-day turnaround was tough as well.”
Georgia’s Scottish coach Richie Dixon admitted his side needed to cut out on mental errors to get results.
“I think over the game Scotland dominated in attacking us,” he said. “Our defence was coping but unfortunately for us there were too many errors and Scotland kept us from getting any momentum.
“You can do all the training you like but it’s only in the first game that you really find out so we know we have a lot of work to do. We killed ourselves in terms of attacking momentum with so many fouls and penalties.”
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