Mamuka Gorgodze scores the first try for Georgia in yesterday's Rugby World Cup clash against Tonga. Georgia won 17-10. (Action Images via Reuters)

AFP/London


Georgia captain Mamuka “Man Mountain” Gorgodze led his country to just their third World Cup win with a 17-10 upset success over Tonga in their opening Pool C game yesterday.
Gorgodze and his teammates erupted with joy at the Kingsholm stadium in Gloucester after a famous win which capped a record breaking day as 18-year-old scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze become the youngest player in World Cup history.
Gorgodze charged over a bulldozing first half try to open up a lead which Tonga, ranked 11th in the world, rarely looked like closing.
Kurt Morath’s penalty from 30 metres out gave Tonga the opening points before full-back Merab Kvirikashvili, the only man to appear in all Georgia’s World Cup matches, missed the chance to equalise.
But Kvirikashvili was soon on target. Georgia’s record points-scorer made no mistake in the 20th minute to level the scores.
No 8 Gorgodze, who plays for European champions Toulon, led a brilliant scrummaging effort by his side and put them on course for victory with a first-half try.
In the second half, Tonga set up a frantic finale. With Georgia making tackle after tackle, Tonga finally found a way through for a try by left wing Fetu’u Vainikolo.
Kurt Morath added the conversion to reduce Georgia’s lead to seven points, with Kvirikashvili sent to the sin-bin.  But Georgia clung on for victory.
“It’s unbelievable, we were waiting and waiting and hanging on at the end, we wanted to win so bad,” said Kvirikashvili.
“It was so much pressure, we had a huge team to hold off, we defended like mad men, it was amazing.”
He added: “Unfortunately I missed a couple of important penalties, but it turned out OK because we were everywhere in defence, we were all over the park.”
Georgia, competing at their fourth World Cup, had only previously beaten Namibia 30-0 in 2007 and Romania 25-9 four years ago in New Zealand.
Although defending champions New Zealand and Argentina are overwhelming favourites to get through to the knockout phase from Pool C, Tonga and Georgia kicked off knowing that whichever team finished third would qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup.
This was an especially bitter defeat for Tonga, who beat finalists France at the 2011 World Cup and came close to reaching the last eight.
After Kvirikashvili had equalised, Georgia’s forwards, six whom play club rugby in France’s elite Top 14, began to dominate.
And Gorgodze, who drove hard off the back of a ruck near the Tongan line to score the game’s first try in the 28th minute. Kvirikashvili added the easy conversion to make it 10-3 to Georgia.
Tonga thought they had scored a well-worked try off a line-out through Viliami Ma’afu but referee Nigel Owens ruled it out for a forward pass by the Pacific islanders’ captain, Nili Latu and Georgia led 10-3 at half-time.
Kvirikashvili, from 40 metres out but in a central position, failed to reward his forwards’ efforts in winning a penalty by pulling his kick wide.
However, a superb handling move involving backs and forwards ended with blindside flanker Giorgi Tkhilaishvili going over in a corner for a well-worked try just shy of the hour mark. Kvirikashvili made light of a difficult conversion and Georgia led 17-3.
Tonga were again denied when the officials correctly ruled Siale Piutau had failed to ground the ball in the 65th minute.
Vainikolo eventually crossed but Georgia held out to spark joyous celebrations among their players and fans when Owens blew for full-time.
The upset win bought a big smile on the face Georgia's Kiwi coach Milton Haig, who said other teams may now think twice before underestimating his side.
“I spoke to one of the Tongan players that I’ve coached in New Zealand and he said to me 15 minutes ago that maybe they underestimated us a little bit, that they were focusing on other games rather than us,” Haig told a post-match news conference.
“Because we’re not one of those top-tier nations, we don’t  make the news a heck of a lot, so a whole lot of people don’t know too much about us. Maybe they do underestimate us.”
The grizzled but soft-spoken South Islander expects that to change now.
“With that victory today, I’m pretty sure some people will be reconsidering that,” he said.