Pleasure and pain for Burns on full debut in Ireland win
BILLY Burns enjoyed a try-scoring full international debut, but was forced off injured as Ireland secured second place in Group A of the Autumn Nations Cup with a laboured 23-10 win over Georgia.
Fly-half Burns staked his claim as the first-choice understudy to sidelined skipper Johnny Sexton by contributing 15 points to help the Irish return to winning ways following last weekend’s disappointing defeat to England.
However, a promising afternoon for the England-born Ulster man was prematurely ended by a knock sustained early in the second period at the Aviva Stadium, significantly disrupting the rhythm of the unconvincing hosts.
Hugo Keenan claimed Ireland’s other try, while replacement number 10 Ross Byrne added a second-half penalty as Andy Farrell’s men set up a third-place play-off with Scotland on Saturday.
Georgia arrived in Dublin yet to score a point in the tournament, but produced arguably the moment of the match courtesy of a dazzling firsthalf score from Giorgi Kveseladze.
The tenacious visitors can take plenty of confidence into next weekend’s meeting with Fiji, although that wooden spoon fixture remains in doubt as each of their opponents’ Group B matches were cancelled due to Covid-19 protocols
Ireland endured persistent setpiece struggles in the 18-7 loss at Twickenham last time out and, despite the relatively comfortable final scoreline, were far from flawless in that area yesterday.
Head coach Andy Farrell would have been encouraged by a positive start in which the hosts went 10-0 ahead inside 14 minutes following sustained pressure and some neat interplay.
Quick hands from centre Chris Farrell released Burns and he dived over the line for his first international try before adding the extras and, minutes later, kicking a penalty.
Georgia responded in fine style with a sensational try from the nimble-footed Kveseladze.
The centre collected the ball in his own half following some slick passing, burst into Irish territory and then dummied his way past Jacob Stockdale and Burns to touch down beneath the posts, allowing Tedo Abzhandadze a simple conversion.
A second Burns penalty kept the hosts in control of the scoreboard, before he kicked another conversion to make it 20-7 at the interval after winger Keenan collected Stockdale’s pass to touch down his third international score wide on the right.
After Burns, winning his third cap following two substitute appearances, departed, the physical visitors kept themselves in contention at 2010 thanks to Abzhandadze’s longrange penalty.
But a penalty from Burns’ replacement Ross Byrne saw the scoring end, despite CJ Stander going close to a try.