Scotland U20 7 – 22 Georgia: match report

It was Georgia who got us underway in the Italian sunset and unfortunately for Kenny Murray’s men it looked as if Georgia drew first blood. With a driving maul from a close-range line out, Georgia crashed over after just two minutes of play, but an obstruction from Nika Abesadze and Luka Narsia saw the try chalked off.

Georgia were spurred on by this and refused to give the Scots an inch. The Scottish defence however held up well, eventually turning the ball over. Fergus Watson went cantering up the nearside with Matthew Urwin in tow. A full team effort saw the Scots go all the way up to 15 metres out, before play was halted by referee Griffin Colby getting caught up in play and clobbered by Reuben Logan.

The Georgians won a penalty and Mikheil Shioshvili went galloping straight through the middle of the Scottish defence. Doing all they could to keep the Georgians out, the Scottish defence held out before giving a crucial penalty away. Co-captain Johnny Ventisei was given a stern warning by referee Colby that one more infringement would send a man to the bin.

After numerous attempts off the back of the lineout, Shota Kheladze broke off and went sailing over the try line, leaving the Scots scratching their heads. Giorgi Bolkvadze couldn’t find the extras from the tee (5-0, 15 mins).

Freddy Douglas won a crucial turnover off the back of the restart, giving his co-Captain Hector Patterson a chance to get the Scots out of their 22. The relief was short lived as Freddy Douglas was shown a yellow card for repeated infringements and not rolling away. Douglas had only been off the pitch for two minutes before recorder breaker Kerr Yule joined him, singled out for repeated offsides from the Scots.

Taking full advantage of the extra two men, Georgia opted for a scrum and Mikheil Shioshvili didn’t hang around – going on his own and found a way over the whitewash. Giorgi Bolkvadze made no mistake from the tee. (12-0, 21 mins)

With it all to do after a rocky 25 minutes, things started looking up for the visitors. Having done well to pressurise Georgia into a rushed clearing kick, the resulting lineout went in the visitors’ favour. Matthew Urwin stabbed a kick through for Jed Findlay to chase into the 22. The bounce was good for Findlay as he collected before a hand off to Patterson, but he couldn’t hold it and lost it just yards from the try line.

Looking like they could ride out the yellow card storm, Scotland continued to pressure Georgia but the hosts were too strong. With a full team effort to get deep into the Scottish half, Mate Ghurtskaia found the glory having breached the Scottish defence and darted down over the try line. Giorgi Bolkvadze missed from the tee again. (17-0, 30 mins)

Off the back of the restart Scotland were lively back up to the full complement as Douglas and Yule returned. Having won a penalty on the 40m line as Georgia didn’t roll away, poor sportsmanship saw the hosts marched back another 10m. A well worked set piece saw Reuben Logan with the ball in hand at high speed, untouchable he crashed over the line. Matthew Urwin’s kick was good, Scotland looked to be back in the game. (17-7, 34 mins)

Scotland came to life after Reuben Logan’s try as they looked to put the pressure on the hosts, pinning them in their own half. With 30 seconds left of the half, Georgia booted the ball down the pitch with Scotland having the last say of the half. Refusing to go quietly, Reuben Logan went again bursting through the Georgian defence. A promising attack came to nothing as the ball went wide and into touch, referee Griffin Colby decided enough was enough.

Half-time: Georgia U20 17-7 Scotland U20 Men

It was the Scots who came out swinging in the second half winning an early penalty. Off the back of the lineout, Freddy Douglas went from villain to hero as he found his way through the maul to crash over the line. Matthew Urwin’s kick pulled wide as TMO Graham Cooper called for a check on Scotland’s drive at the maul. The try was scratched off for a shift drive. (17-7, 42 mins)

Georgia found their way onto the front foot off the back of the disallowed try. Georgian captain Kheladze lost the ball forward having been met with the very frustrated duo of Freddy Douglas and Oliver McKenna.

Scotland took advantage off the back of the scrum. Fergus Watson chipped the ball downfield and Hector Patterson was quick to chase the ball and gather the dropped ball by Georgia to sail over the try line. Just as Matthew Urwin lined up his conversion TMO Graham Cooper called for another check. Patterson was deemed to be in front of Watson when he kicked, another try knocked off for the visitors (17-7, 46 mins).

Scotland were rewarded for their patience with penalty after penalty, but Georgia were quick to turn the ball over and gain all the field possession they could. Co-Captain Johnny Ventisei was given another warning from referee Colby for his back talk.

Neither side were willing to give an inch until Georgia spotted space in the back field and chipped over the top. Jack Brown tried to gather in the air but could only bat it back, Isaac Coates tried to gather but the ball bounced out of his reach and Mikheil Shioshvili gathered to dart down under the posts. Giorgi Bolkvadze’s kick went off to the right of the uprights (22-7, 58 mins).

Joe Roberts had miles of space out on the wing from nowhere and he went on his own all the way up to five metres out. Unfortunately, he was pinged for not releasing and Georgia were given a crucial penalty.

Scotland just could not capitalise on their chances as they looked to go through the hands and really turned up the heat on the hosts. Fergus Watson found Jack Brown who looked certain to go flying over in the right-hand corner, but Georgia were lucky to shut that down just a metre out. The ball from the ruck was intercepted by Georgia and scooped away into touch on the edge of the 22.

With less than 10 minutes left on the clock Scotland were refusing to go quietly but the hosts were not making it easy for them as they consistently turned the ball over and pinned the visitors back. The visitors were never fully out of the game despite trailing by 15 points (22-7, 72 mins).

With five minutes left, Scotland were in an ideal position to lessen the deficit, but they were under immense pressure from the hosts. Despite their efforts, Scotland just couldn’t find their way through the Georgia defence and were sent packing back into their own half. With the clock in the red, one final scrum for the hosts and Davit Tsiklauri passed the ball back to Gig Sirbiladze who decided enough was enough and booted the ball into the stands.

Full-time: Georgia U20 22-7 Scotland U20 Men

Scotland U20 Men: 15. Jed Findlay (Exeter Chiefs), 14. Jack Brown (Edinburgh Rugby), 13. Johnny Ventisei – co-captain, 12. Kerr Yule, 11. Fergus Watson, 10. Matthew Urwin (all Glasgow Warriors), 9. Hector Patterson (Edinburgh Rugby), 1. Oliver McKenna, 2. Seb Stephen (both Glasgow Warriors), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby), 4. Dylan Cockburn (Glasgow Warriors), 5. Bart Godsell (Loughborough University), 6. Oliver Duncan, 7. Freddy Douglas – Co-Captain (both Edinburgh Rugby), 8. Reuben Logan (Northampton Saints).

Replacements: 16. Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors)(for Stephen, 44 mins), 17. Will Pearce (Cardiff Metropolitan University/Bristol Bears)(For McKenna, 54 mins), 18. Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors)(For Blyth-Lafferty, 55mins), 19. Charlie Moss (Montpellier)(For Cockburn, 59 mins), 20. Mark Fyffe (University of Edinburgh)(for Duncan, 69 mins), 21. Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders)(for Patterson, 59 mins), 22. Isaac Coates (Edinburgh Rugby)(For Urwin 54 mins), 23. Jack Hocking (unattached)(For Findlay, 54 mins).

Georgia U20s: 15. Giorgi Bolkvadze, 14. Giorgi Bolkvadze, 13. Data Akhvlediani, 12. Nugzari Kevkhishvili, 11. Luka Keshelava; 10. Temuri Dzodzuashvili, 9. Giorgi Spanderashvili; 1. Giorgi Turashvili, 2. Shota Kheladze, 3. Mate Gurtskaia; 4. Davit Baramia, 5. Gagui Margvelashvili; 6. Nika Abesadze, 8. Mikheili Shioshvili, 7. Luka Narsia.

Replacements: 16. David Archvadze, 17. Giorgi Meskhidze, 18. Giorgi Dzagania, 19. Nikolozi Chkhortolia, 20. Giorgi Ardzenadze, 21. Daviti Tsiklauri, 22. Gigi Sirbiladze, 23. Sandro Meskhidze.

Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Alex Frasson (FIR)
TMO: Graham Cooper (RA).