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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Paul O'Connell's makeshift Ireland have too much for Georgia
Summer Test: Georgia 5 Ireland 34 Ireland did all that was required of them in difficult conditions in Tbilisi as Paul O'Connell's side ran in four tries to make it six wins from six against Georgia. The makeshift side, as expected, encountered difficulties against the renowned Georgian scrum but did more than enough to manage the game and prevent a loss to Richard Cockerill's side before they head to Lisbon to take on Portugal next Saturday. Georgia, with 14 of their matchday 23 currently with French clubs, including nine starters, knew this was a glorious opportunity to make a mark against a tier one country in Tbilisi, a match they switched to Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, the football ground with a capacity of over 27,000 but it was not full. Their hopes of taking out a Six Nations country for only the third time, three years on from defeating Italy, were certainly boosted by the heavy rain which fell in the Georgian capital throughout the night for a game that kicked off at 9pm local time. Interim head coach O'Connell knew the value of a strong start to curb the Georgian enthusiasm and his side certainly delivered, racing into a 14-0 lead after just eight minutes. As debuts go Tommy O'Brien could scarcely have hoped for a better start, crossing for his first try after just 95 second and then getting in for another six minutes later. A chip from Sam Prendergast was deflected into his flight path as he chased through to score beside the posts and he was involved in the move which led to his second, again chasing a Prendergast chip, catching and sending a grubber in one movement with Georgian scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze forced to concede a five-metre scrum after the ball unkindly hit the bottom of the left post and came back to him as he chased back. Ireland held firm in that initial scrum with Craig Casey feeding Prendergast and his long, looping pass out wide was taken by O'Brien to score in the right corner. Prendergast landed a superb conversion to make it 14-0. Those scores really deflated Georgia's big night but they built through the phases, the difficult handling conditions leading to plenty of scrums for them to work their way into the game and it took a good retreating tackle from Jamie Osborne to deny winger Aka Tabutsadze after Jacob Stockdale missed a tackle on La Rochelle bound full-back Davit Niniashvili. Italian TMO Matteo Liperini did his utmost to convince his compatriot referee Andrea Piardi to award the try despite the winger clearly losing possession but the referee — no stranger to Munster fans following that incident in the Bulls game in the URC last season — overruled his assistant and rightly disallowed the try. Georgia got an edge in the scrums but didn't make the most of it, not least hooker Vano Karkadze whose over-exuberance in celebrating a scrum penalty let to a melee and a reversal of the decision. Ireland failed to make the break count, with hooker Gus McCarthy pinged for a crooked throw in the left corner. Prendergast kept Georgia turning with some neat kicking from the hand, but it wasn't flawless either from him and they struggled to build phases. Niniashvili did well to deny Prendergast in the corner after Tommy O'Brien turned provider, while Stockdale's night ended four minutes from the break when he went off with what seemed a shoulder injury, with Calvin Nash coming on for his eleventh cap. Georgia struck a telling blow before the break. They were rewarded for not putting the ball out inside their own 22 when they won a penalty after another slow Irish move broke down and a series of penalties down field ended with a fine try off a lineout in the left corner when No.8 Tornike Jalagonia, who plays for Provence in the French ProD2, powered over to leave it 14-5 at the break. Ireland made a great start to the second half. Gavin Coombes collected a clearance, sent Calvin Nash away down the left before Ryan Baird took it on and he held off the challenge of centre Demur Tapladze long enough for Craig Casey to get on his shoulder and the scrum-half crowned his first match as captain with a try. Prendergast converted and then landed a penalty from 35 metres after debutant lock Darragh Murray had stolen a Georgian lineout to push the lead out to 24-5. Coombes, winning his third cap four years after his last one, came more into the game and did well to deny Georgian hooker Karkadze in the left corner after the Georgians had gone to touch with a penalty. Both sides starting emptying their benches with Michael Milne becoming the third Irish debutant on the night when he came on for Boyle, while on the other side of the scrum Connacht's Jack Aungier made his bow after 69 minutes when he replaced Clarkson, by which time Waterford native Tom Ahern came on for his first international cap when he replaced Cormac Izuchukwu. Max Deegan, a pre-match replacement for Cian Prendergast who was ruled out with a bug, came on for his first cap in four years when he replaced Coombes 15 minutes from time. Nick Timoney, in the international wilderness since 2022, made it four tries in four appearances when he did well to get through winger Tabutsadze and out-half Matkava after a crosskick from Prendergast set him up in the left corner. Prendergast converted from the last touchline to make it six from six before making way for Jack Crowley, while scrum-half Ben Murphy became the sixth debutant and third from Connacht on the night when he replaced Casey. O'Brien came close to completing his hat-trick seven minutes from time but Nash was not able to link with him as they opened the home defence. Ireland finished with 14 men when centre Stuart McCloskey was binned for not retreating ten metres at a penalty but Ireland defended a late Georgia surge despite being down a man. Scorers: Georgia: Tries: T Jalagonia. Ireland: Tries: T O'Brien (2), C Casey, N Timoney. Cons: S Prendergast (4). Pens: Prendergast (2). GEORGIA: D Niniashvili, A Tabutsadze, D Tapladze (T Kakhoidze 61), G Kveseladze, S Todua, L Matkava, V Lobzhanidze; G Akhaladze (G Tetrashvili 55), V Karkadze (I Kvatadze 55), I Aptsiauri (B Gigashvili 55); M Babunashvili, L Chachanidze, L Ivanishvili (Guram Ganiashvili 75), B Saghinadze, T Jalagonia (I Spanderashvili 55). IRELAND: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, J Osborne, S McCloskey, J Stockdale (C Nash 36); S Prendergast (J Crowley 70), C Casey (capt) (B Murphy 70); J Boyle (M Milne 59), G McCarthy (T Stewart 59), T Clarkson (J Aungier 69); C Izuchukwu (T Ahern 63), D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G Coombes (M Deegan 65). Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Georgia have plenty on their mind - including Ireland's scalp
Georgia head coach Richard Cockerill accepts his side may "get their asses handed to them" in Tbilisi on Saturday evening — but given where they are and what they are targeting in terms of the next World Cup, it will be some surprise if Paul O'Connell's Ireland aren't put to the pin of their collar at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium (kick-off 6pm Irish time). O'Connell's side features only two debutants — Tommy O'Brien and Darragh Murray — and the Ireland party will be braced for the tougher of their two summer Tests, in Lisbon against Portugal next Saturday. The Georgians are ranked 11th in the world and a targeting a quarter-final in Australia in 2027. Ireland's defence coach Denis Leamy understands they won't be short of motivation hosting Ireland at Test level for the first time. "You'd imagine that Georgia would have loads of reasons to be inspired to play a huge game against us, so we're expecting a really tough, tough game against opponents that are really well put together by their coaches," he said. "There's obviously Richard (Cockerill), but also Conor McPhillips who's worked in the Irish system as well and who's been with Bristol as well. He's a really experienced attack coach. So, you can see in their game that they're well put together. They're physical. They've got a great platform around their scrum, their maul, their lineout. It is a big test. We're out of our comfort zone and it's exactly the sort of test that we're looking forward to." Georgia head coach Richard Cockerill accepts his side may "get their asses handed to them" in Tbilisi on Saturday evening. Picture: Ben Brady/Inpho Leamy, like everyone in the travelling group, can see the Georgians building all the time — and asking the right sort of questions of Tier One opponents. The days of a one-dimensional threat up front are long gone. "I think it's very clear that they're well put together off their launch players, their scrums, their lineouts. They have really good three-phase, four-phase plays and they run them really well. Their big threat is Davit Niniashvili (who has joined Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle). He's obviously an excellent player, but they're very well put together at 10 by Tedo Abzhandadze. He runs the thing very well. They have the ability to play around you. They have the ability to take you on confrontationally, and they're a very, very well coached team. You can see that they're top-level rugby players and they're well used to playing in a big league like France." It's no bad thing, therefore, that Ireland are being piloted by a man whose attention to detail virtually ensures there are no nasty surprises in the pipeline. 'Paulie has already carved out a hugely successful coaching career so to come in and work with him, he's been very good to us. He's given us clear guidelines in terms of what he wants from us as coaches coming in from the provinces and playing the Irish way and implementing that gameplan," said Leamy. 'Paul's a natural leader, he's a brilliant leader. His presence alone is a great starting point. Look, he understand the game inside out, he has great knowledge and he's way of imparting that knowledge with the players is hugely impressive.' Denis Leamy: 'You'd imagine that Georgia would have loads of reasons to be inspired to play a huge game against us, so we're expecting a really tough, tough game.' Picture: Leah Scholes/Inpho It's a phrase Leamy uses too regarding sports psychologist Caroline Currid who, as Examiner Sport revealed last week, is part of O'Connell's wider strategy group. Said Leamy: "She's hugely impressive. She's worked with so many great teams like Dublin and Tipperary, and she won a few All-Irelands with Limerick as well over the last couple of years; so her record speaks for herself. She's got a great take on things. She's really gifted in getting her point across to players and the players are loving having her around. She's a real character." The former Munster stalwart has also noted with interest the different group dynamic these days, compared to his time with Ireland. I think in my generation, there was huge rivalry and I think there is still rivalry but it took us a few weeks for the frostiness to wear off. "The boys just seem to get on so well these days. They're straight in, they're best mates, they're constantly over and back on WhatsApp and all the different platforms. "A lot of the boys I've worked with are either Leinster or at Irish U20s level, so I know the vast majority of them. It's lovely to see them develop as players, how they've grown into men and how they've developed their own perspective on the game, their own opinions. It's excellent to be back in around them. We just find it like, when it's a national set-up, that the unity kind of straight away, that they all mix." GEORGIA: D Niniashvili, A Tabutsadze, D Tapladze, G Kveseladze, S Todua, L Matkava, V Lobzhanidze; (8-1) T Jalagonia, B Saghinadze, L Ivanishvili, L Chachanidze, M Babunashvili, I Aptsiauri, V Karkadze, G Akhaladze. Replacements: I Kvatadze, G Tetrashvili, B Gigashvili, G Javakhia, I Spanderashvili, M Alania, T Abzhandadze, T Kakhoidze. IRELAND: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, J Osborne, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; S Prendergast, C Casey (capt); J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; C Izuchukwu, D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G Coombes. Replacements: T Stewart, M Milne, J Aungier, T Ahern, C Prendergast, B Murphy, J Crowley, C Nash. Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
