Deadly Kvirikashvili brings up the ton in style

GEORGIA secured back-toback bonus point victories to top the standings in the Rugby Europe Championship after defeating dark horses Germany 50-6 last weekend.

The Germans had shocked Uruguay in November and then beat Romania 41-38 in round one of the Championship to establish themselves as genuine challengers, but the Georgian test proved a step too far.

All-time leading Georgain points scorer, full-back Merab Kvirikashvili, was making is 100th appearance, the first player from his country to do so.

The 33-year-old marked the occasion by kicking four conversions from the eight tries scored by his countrymen.

Germany head coach Kobus Potgieter said: “We are on the right track in Germany. I think it will take time and we have to be patient.

“The last two years things have suddenly exploded, but we can’t expect miracles every weekend, we need to be patient and work hard. The results will come.

“Our next focus is Belgium, we are going to analyse this game because we know we made a lot of mistakes and we are going to work on those and fix them.

“We will analyse Belgium, make sure we are ready in two weeks and make sure we improve our performance.”

It took less than three minutes for centre Giorgi Koshadze to bag Georgia’s first try before the Germans closed the gap through the boot of Raynor Parkinson to make it 7-3.

Winger Giorgi Pruidze crashed over moments later but Parkinson responded with three more points. However, a second score from Koshadze brought it to 21-6 at the break.

The Lelos dominated the rest of the match with back row pair Beka Gorgadze and Giorgi Tkhilaishvili both grabbing two tries each.

Former Hartpury College centre Merab Sharikadze completed the rout in the 80th minute with a try of his own.