Georgia had never managed to beat an opponent of this rank outside. Ranked 14th in the World Rugby rankings, the Lelos defeated Wales in moneytime. In the 78th minute, Luka Matkava’s successful penalty put the Georgians in the lead (13-12) while the Leek XV had won three times in the last three meetings between the two countries.
On the occasion of this match of the Autumn Nations series, Georgia was trailing for a long time after opening the scoring. At halftime, Levan Maisashvili’s men were nine points behind. More solid, they didn’t concede anything after the break and were revived by Sandro Todua’s try in the 59th minute of play.
At the beginning of July, the Georgians won against Italy (28-19), another team member of the 6 Nations Tournament. It was then the first victory for this nation against a Tier 1 country. Last year, the Lelos won the 6 Nations B Tournament. They confirm that if the cast of the European first division were to be extended, they would be the first new guests on the upper floor.
With this defeat, the Leek XV confirms its bad pass. Wayne Pivac and his band had lost against Italy during the last Tournament (22-21) and had not done better than a penultimate place. The Welsh will be able to take their revenge against the Georgians in October 2023, on the occasion of the World Cup organized in France.