Georgia will be the champions
Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:32
Georgia beat Russia in a European Nations Cup, Division 1, match in cold Krasnoyarsk on Saturday to make virtually sure of winning the championship.
Siberia was as cold as it notoriously is. The match was delayed for 40 minutes while the snow was cleared. The lines on the field were marked in red.
Victory means that Georgia will win the Six Nations B which was played home and away over two years. Georgia have Spain to play, Russia the Czech Republic.
The present standings with matches played, points and points' difference is as follows:
1 Georgia 9; 25; 176
2 Russia 9; 23; 119
3 Romania 10; 22; 133
4 Portugal 9; 15; -18
5 Spain 8; 14; -9
6 Czech Republic 9; 9; -401
There were just two tries in the match, both by Georgia, one in each half. At half-time the Lelos led 10-6.
Georgia scored first when Rati Urushadze reached out in a tackle and scored under the posts. Otar Barkalaia converted. 7-0 after 8 minutes. Barkalaia then added a penalty from a tackle infringement. 10-0 after 20 minutes.
Yuri Kushnariov, who had missed an earlier kick at goal, goaled a penalty on 23 minutes and then again on 37 minutes after a big brawl that ended with flanks George Chkhaidze and Andrei Ostrikov in the sin bin.
Barkalaia and Kushnariov traded penalties. 13-9 after 58 minutes. Kushnariov added a fourth to make the score 13-12 with 12 minutes to play.
There were just seven minutes left when David Katcharava scored the final try of the match.
Scorers:
For Georgia:
Tries: Urushadze, Katcharava
Con: Barkalaia
Pens: Barkalaia 2
For Russia:
Pens: Kushnariov 4
Teams:
Georgia: 15 Otar Barkalaia, 14 Sandro Todua, 13 David Katcharava, 12 Rezo
Guigauri, 11 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 10 Lasha Malaghuradze, 9 Irakli Abusseridze (captain), 8 Dimitri Bassilaia, 7 Rati Urushadze, 6 George Chkhaidze, 5 Mamuka Gorgodze, 4 Kakhaber Uchav, 3 David Kubriashvili, 2 Irakli Natriashvili, 1 Goderdzi Shvelidze
Replacements: 16 Simon Maissuradze, 17 David Dadunashvili, 18 George Nemsadze, 19 Shalva Sutiashvili, 20 Bidzina Samkharadze, 21 Merab Kvirikashvili, 22 George Shkinini
Russia: 15 Igor Kliuchnikov, 14 Andrei Kuzin (captain), 11 Alex Gvozdovski, 13 Igor Galinovski, 12 Victor Gresev, 10 Iuri Kushnariov, 9 Alex Shakirov, 8 Alex Panasenko, 7 Andrei Garbuzov, 6 Andrei Ostrikov, 5 Cyril Kuliomin, 4 Valeri Fedchenko, 3 Alex Chernishov, 2 Vladislav Korshunov, 1 Alex Khrokin
Replacements: 16 Vladimir Marchenko, 17 Vladimir Botvinnikov, 18 Eugene Matveev, 19 Viacheslav Grachov, 20 Victor Motorin, 21 Mikhail Babaev, 22 Serguei Trishin
Referee: Franck Maciello (France)
