SCOTS ARE SAFE AND SOUND
Comeback win and clean bill of health leaves Townsend’s men in fine shape
PLAYMAKER Finn Russell and top-try scorer Duhan van der Merwe both emerged unscathed and there was an impressive second-half comeback to enjoy.
Gregor Townsend won’t be totally satisfied but, as England’s defeat to Fiji showed, World Cup warm-up victories with no injuries should be cherished.
No wonder the 54,212 crowd — that included Scottish-born Hollywood actor Gerard Butler — were happy to stay behind after the final whistle to applaud the Scotland players as they did a lap round Murrayfield after their final appearance on home soil ahead of next month’s showpiece.
Going in at the break 6-0 down wasn’t in the script but an inspired Russell set up a score for Van der Merwe before Rory Darge went over for a second.
A Jack Dempsey score on the hour mark — 12 minutes after Russell had been taken off to keep him fresh for the World Cup opener against South Africa — and it was game over. Kyle Steyn got Scotland’s fourth try after good work from Dempsey before Van der Merwe got his second near the end.
It was a good workout for the Scots — especially with the way they stayed composed and didn’t panic when down by six — against a Georgian outfit that has the potential to do some damage in the World Cup.
Their head coach Levan Maisashvili made six changes to his side that thumped Romania 56-6 last time out with hooker Shalva Mamukashvili winning his 100th cap.
The other five changes brought back first-choice players based in France with Toulon prop Beka Gigashvili, Bayonne second row Konstantin Mikautadze, Biarritz back row forward Tornike Jalaghonia, Brive scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze and Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili all coming in to strengthen their side.
It was evident from the first whistle this was a highly-motivated Georgian side that beat Wales in Cardiff the last time they played a Tier-One nation and were desperate to add the Scots to their list of successes.
The first ten minutes were fast and furious with Georgia taking the lead after Grant Gilchrist was penalised for not getting out of the tackle quickly enough. The penalty was close enough and straight enough for Luka Matkava to put the ball between the posts with ease to give his side the lead. They nearly increased it through Mirian Modebadze, who was only denied a score when he was narrowly beaten in a kick chase by Ollie Smith, who had to touch down behind his own line. Confidence was high in the opposition ranks with a Scotland offside allowing Matkava to put over his second penalty.
The Georgians were winning the physical battle with prop WP Nel on the end of a super tackle from the much lighter Niniashvili. A quick tap penalty from Ben White nearly caught the Georgians on the hop but, after eight attacking phases, the visitors won a turnover.
Scotland thought they had got their first try after good work from Huw Jones but replays showed that Steyn lost control of the ball before he touched it down. Three minutes before half-time, Georgian hooker Mamukashvili had to go off injured to bring a premature end to his 100th cap but, despite losing their talisman, they held on to their six-point lead until the break.
Scotland started the second half at pace with a Jones pass being taken off the fingertips of an unmarked Van der Merwe by Akaki Tabutsadze. It was frantic stuff from the Scots with Russell (above) doing his best to raise the tempo of the game in a controlled manner.
It was a piece of magic from the fly-half that lead to Scotland’s first try. The conventional option would have been to move the ball along the line when he got it in open field near the Georgian line. Instead, he looked up and, with the outside of his boot, put in a perfect cross that Van der Merwe juggled with for a few seconds before touching down.
The build-up for the second try involved Russell, a mazy run from Van der Merwe, good forward play by Jamie Bhatti and a darting touchdown from Darge. Townsend clearly felt the game was in the bag as he immediately took off six players with 52 minutes on the clock — including Russell — to keep them fresh to take on South Africa on September 10.
The third try came just before the hour mark after strong forward play saw Dempsey power over the line.
With Scott Cummings on for Sam Skinner in the second row, the Scotland bench had been cleared. Dempsey was really coming onto a game and it was his hard work that released Steyn to go over for a score under the posts.
Replacement fly-half Ben Healy set up Van der Merwe for Scotland’s final try with two minutes left to bring the curtain down on an impressive second-half display from the Scots.
Next up are World Cup holders South Africa in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille with Townsend and his players realising they will have to up their game against them.
They certainly can’t start as slowly against the Springboks as they did against the Georgians because they won’t be allowed back into the match.
The Scotland head coach won’t have learned much about his players after this contest that he didn’t know already, although the way Dempsey played was enough to earn him a starting place over Matt Fagerson at No 8 against the Springboks.
Van der Merwe may have been man of the match with his two tries but Dempsey was immense in the back row and the pick of the forwards.