Scotland Defeats Georgia at Dinamo Arena

On August 31, the Georgian and Scottish rugby teams faced each other at Dinamo Arena. The almost full stadium, mostly Georgians, saw Scotland win a powerful victory of 10:44. This game was Georgia’s final warm-up at home before the World Cup.

“Georgia were expected to give Scotland a stern test, especially upfront, but this served as a reminder that the gulf between tiers One and Two in international rugby remains significant,“ the BBC wrote. 
 

Milton Haig, head coach of the Georgian team commented on the defeat after the game, saying that: “The reason for our team’s failure during the first few minutes of the game is that we truly lack matches of this quality. Up to 20 minutes from the start, it was a Tier One team versus a Tier Two team. Going against such quality teams more often will allow us to even the field and not give our opponents such a great advantage.”

While evaluating the game, Haig offered his sympathy to the fans, saying that he was "just as disappointed as them" and admitting that even the first 30 minutes of the game was handled ‘horribly’ by the Georgian team. However, both Haig and captain of Georgian team, Mikheil Nariashvili, agree that "we should forget this match and focus on the next game."
 
The captain of the opponent team evaluated the game, saying:  “Georgia has a great team. We respect them a lot. Our preparations before this match were quite strict and serious. And if you question whether we consider Georgia a 7-Nation, I’d say the answer to that is pretty clear," said the Captain of Scotland Rugby Team, Stuart McInally.

Nariashvili promised Georgian Rugby fandom that the team will put their maximum effort into delivering more at the next game in Scotland. The rematch, this time taking place on Scottish land, is scheduled for Friday, September 6.  

Image source: bbc.co.uk
By Nini Dakhundaridze