Ben Donaldson, a fly-half playing at full-back, scored 25 points in Australia’s 35-15 victory against Georgia as Eddie Jones’s gamble paid off
at the Stade de FranceWell, it’ll do for now. Australia are off and running at this World Cup, with their first win under Eddie Jones and further vital signs of progress. It was a little ragged in the second half, and Georgia missed numerous opportunities to make them extremely uncomfortable in the closing stages.
This is a young side, with new pages to write and new stars waiting to hatch. Mark Nawaqanitawase showed why he is being tipped for a big breakthrough at this tournament. The pack held firm against the strong Georgian scrum. The set piece was decent enough. But the star of the show, fittingly, was a Jones gamble: Ben Donaldson, the fly-half picked at full-back to bolster a fragile kicking game, and coming away with 25 points.
The first thing to say about all this is that Georgia’s basic worth as a rugby nation should not stand or fall on the basis of 80 minutes. They have beaten Italy and Wales in the last 15 months, caused Scotland plenty of problems at Murrayfield a fortnight ago, and can boast a clutch of Top 14 players. Rather their progress over recent years should be the impetus to broaden their horizons rather than narrow them. The structures, the enthusiasm and the talent are all there.
And if there was a frustration here for Georgia it was that they showed glimpses of the roof-raising rugby of which they are frequently capable. Luka Ivanishvili’s try early in the second half, with Miriani Modebadze still in the bin and Georgia down to 14, was one of the plays of the match. They dominated the third quarter of the game and had their lightning young full-back Davit Niniashvili not thrown Australia a needless try they may even have run things close.
Georgia’s openside flanker Luka Ivanishvili dives and scores a try as Australia’s fly-half Carter Gordon tackles him.It was a shame, then, that by the time they finally arrived at the stadium, Australia had already begun to run up the score. Jordan Petaia went over within two minutes after a superb 50-22 from Nawaqanitawase. Next Nawaqanitawase scored himself after a scintillating diagonal burst from Marika Koroibete.
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