Waikato Times

Wales humbled by Georgia

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Wales have been left in disarray after a humiliatin­g home defeat to Georgia in Cardiff.

It was only the Lelos’ second win against a tier one nation with the first coming in July, against Italy at home.

Georgia clinched victory in dramatic fashion with substitute Luka Matkava, who made his debut a fortnight ago, kicking a long-range penalty with three minutes to go.

Wales have won just three of their 11 games this year, and coach Wayne Pivac is under pressure.

‘‘That’s the worst performanc­e I’ve seen from a Wales team,’’ said former Wales and British Lions centre Jamie Roberts.

‘‘When you lose a game like this, then serious questions need to be asked about the coach.’’

Pivac himself said: ‘‘You have seen a lot of results at the moment that are going against the formbook, and our result is one of those.

‘‘Seven days is a long time in rugby and we have got to make sure we pull this game apart, learn very very quickly and make sure we get the result against Australia that we now need.

‘‘We put ourselves in this position and now we need to fight to get ourselves out of it.

‘‘We need to make these seven days count and we need to come out with a much better performanc­e next week.’’

❏ Ireland survived a stern challenge from a desperate Australia to prevail 13-10 at Lansdowne Road.

Irish captain Jonathan Sexton withdrew just moments before the match after straining a calf in the warmup but his flirst five-eighth backups were outstandin­g.

Jack Crowley, who made his debut last week, started and played with the composure of a veteran. Importantl­y, he nailed both of his goalkicks. He was replaced with eight minutes to go, and Ross Byrne showed a steely nerve when he stepped up and slotted the match-winning penalty from the right-hand touch.

❏ Scotland overcame remarkable Argentina resistance in winning their thrilling year-ending test 52-29 at Murrayfiel­d.

Argentina were leading 8-7 when flanker Marcos Kremer was sent off with an hour remaining, and played with 12 men for a time in the third quarter.

Incredibly, with 12 on the field and defending a five-metre scrum, the Pumas poached dropped ball and Emiliano Boffelli, playing on his club home ground, ended up scoring between the posts at the other end and converting his try.

The Pumas trailed 24-22 with nearly half an hour to go but it was too long to hold out.

Scotland added four more tries and wing Darcy Graham got a hattrick in their highest score against the Pumas.

 ?? GETTY IMAGES ?? Georgia players celebrate their historic win over Wales in Cardiff yesterday.
GETTY IMAGES Georgia players celebrate their historic win over Wales in Cardiff yesterday.

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