Scotland send Georgia home to think again
For all the talk, this was less a banana skin for Scotland, more an opposed training session. Georgia, who have beaten everybody else on the game’s second tier, seemed determined to show that they can defy stereotype and play expansively against a Scotland side whose back division boasts oodles of creativity and pace.
In that mission they comprehensively failed: Scotland battered them up front and sliced them apart behind the scrum, scoring six swashbuckling tries, while both Georgia’s replies came from scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze, one from a line-out drive, the second from a pushover scrum. On this showing, Georgia’s aspirations to join the Six Nations are likely to remain unfulfilled for some time.
“It was a good first half, we scored three quick tries, held the ball and kept it away from them so they couldn’t access the game,” said the Scotland coach Vern Cotter.
Scotland found themselves behind after five minutes when the ball popped out the back of a Georgia line-out drive and Lobzhanidze sped down the blindside to go over in the corner.
Scotland answered almost immediately, Tommy Seymour touching down Stuart Hogg’s deft kick ahead.
Greig Laidlaw’s touchline conversion took Scotland ahead and they extended their advantage with a penalty try when the Georgians pulled down a driving maul, with Konstantine Mikautadze being sent to the bin.
Despite being down to 14 men, Georgia kicked a penalty when their scrum got the better of Scotland’s, but the hosts’ willingness to go wide brought its reward when Sean Maitland quickly forced his way over.
Laidlaw and Kvirikashvili traded penalties, but the Scots had the final word of the half when Hogg claimed his own chip kick and went over in the corner. Laidlaw’s touchline conversion made it 31-8 at the break.
Scotland started the second half as they ended the first, with openside Hamish Watson barrelling through three tackles to go over.
Awarded a penalty 10 metres out, Georgia chose a scrum and after two attempts shunted the Scots backwards, Lobzhanidze claiming his second try.
Scotland rounded off proceedings with a wonderfully worked break when Ali Price took a quick tap and fed Rory Hughes, who put Hogg in for a length-of-the pitch try.