Wed, Oct 29, 2003 page19

• Uruguay easily overcomes Georgia

  WORLD CUP RUGBY Although the majority of fans in the crowd appeared to be supporting the Georgians, the small pockets of flag-waving Uruguayan followers in their bright blue shirts had plenty to cheer about

  • AP
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  Uruguay ran in three tries to none to end Georgia's dream of a first ever World Cup victory on Tuesday, scoring a 24-12 victory to leave the rookie Georgians last in their group.

  Winger Alfonso Cardoso, hooker Diego Lamelas and replacement Nicolas Brignoni all went over the tryline on the night that the Georgian pack, who had performed heroics against powerhouses England and South Africa, were outshoved by the South Americans.

  Replacement fly half Merab Kvirikashvili led a Georgian fightback with three penalties but the backs couldn't get past a determined Uruguayan defense.

  

  Georgia's Paliko Jimsheladze, center, tries to jump through the Uruguay defence during their match in Sydney, yesterday.

  PHOTO: AP

  Paliko Jimsheladze, who hadn't missed any of his six penalty attempts in his first three games, kicked wide with his first two this time while Juan Menchaca put the Uruguayans ahead with a 35-meter effort in the 14th minute.

  The left-footed Makho Urjukashvili took over from the Georgian flyhalf and leveled in the 19th minute from 33m. But the Uruguayans, considered underdogs going into the game, had their fans cheering wildly again four minutes later when they scored the first try of the game.

  Scrumhalf Juan Campomar almost darted over after receiving the ball from a ruck in the left corner but was held. But they kept the ball and moved it out wide to the right and, with the Georgian defense out of position, winger Alfonso Cardoso was overlapping to take the final pass and go over. Diego Aguirre converted and Uruguay led 10-3.

  

  Martin Demor, a Uruguay fan, cheers on the team as they enter Sydney Football Stadium for their Rugby World Cup match against Georgia, yesterday.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  The leftfooted Aguirre missed a penalty and his brother Sebastian Aguirre and Menchaca both missed drop goals. Diego Aguirre almost increased the lead with the last kick of the match but his penalty attempt from out on the right hit the post.

  The Georgians made four half time changes including sending on 18-year-old Kvirikashvili for the ineffective Jimsheladze.

  The teenager's first World Cup appearance against South Africa lasted only 10 minutes before he was sent to the sinbin shortly after entering the game as a substitute.

  In between he had kicked a penalty against the Springboks and he made an immediate impact here too when he landed an angled penalty in the 45th minute to cut the lead to 10-6.

  Five minutes later he followed that up by sending a 39-meter kick sailing between the posts to bring the Uruguayans' lead down to one point. But the comeback was halted by a second Uruguayan try when the South Americans won the ball from their own lineout and Lamelas broke from the resulting maul to go over for the score. Aguirre converted and the Uruguayans led 17-9.

  Kvirikashvili hit back with his third penalty in the 66th minute after Nicolas Grille had ended Irakli Modebadze's fast break down the left by late-tackling him into touch. The Uruguayan pack almost pushed the Georgians back over again only to be called for obstruction right on the line.

  But it was all over for the Georgians when Diego Aguirre broke through the defensive line and the ball was fed via Modebadze to Brignoni who shrugged off a last ditch tackle to cross the line.

  Ireland jumped over the Wallabies in the world rankings yesterday just days before the teams meet in a World Cup match in Melbourne.

  Ireland moved to No. 3 in the rankings, while Australia dropped to fourth. The teams meet Saturday at the Telstra Dome in a match that will determine first place in Pool A.

  Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan said the new ranking would have no bearing on his team's attitude ahead of its encounter with the Wallabies and described the rankings system as musical chairs.

  "So at 12:00 last night Australia were better than us and 12:00 today we're better than Australia?" O'Sullivan said. "I rest my case."

  The Irish advanced on the strength of its 16-15 win over seventh-ranked Argentina on Sunday. A day earlier, Australia hammered Namibia, ranked 25th in the world, 142-0 in Adelaide.

  Ireland broke a 23-year winless drought against Australia in Nov. 2002 when it beat the Wallabies 18-9 at Dublin. Australia made up for that in June this year by thumping Ireland 45-16 at the Western Australian city of Perth.

  England, which narrowly beat Samoa on Sunday, retained top spot, followed by New Zealand.

  The only other move in the top 20 saw Tonga rise above the US and into 14th place. Portugal is the only non-World Cup team in the top 20 at 20th place.

  Plea for equal treatment

  Canadian skipper Al Charron has backed Italy coach John Kirwan's call for a public lottery-style drawing of the next World Cup so all teams are treated equally.

  Coaches like Kirwan have complained that the draw at this tournament has been skewed towards the elite teams, at the expense of the minnows.

  "The teams that are good enough to play twice a week are playing once a week and the teams like us who are not good enough to play with the depth are playing twice a week," Kirwan told reporters.

  Canadian coach David Clark declined comment when asked Monday about Kirwan's proposal, but Charron was quick to bite.

  "I think it's a great idea," Charron said. "Because it makes it fair across the board and then you're not just looking at putting teams that are already in a very capable position in an even more favorable position as far as the schedule goes.

  Extra man considered

  It was Gallic humor when the French media prodded coach Bernard Laporte for a comment about England's extra-man incident.

  World Cup organizers say they are investigating why England came to have 16 players on the field near the end of Sunday's 35-22 victory over Samoa. Winger Dan Luger came on while center Mike Tindall was being treated for an injury, made a tackle and was then sent from the field by the referee 24 seconds later.

  When asked if his team had been reminded by the International Rugby Board after the flap that only 15 players can be on the pitch at one time, Laporte was game.

  "No, on the contrary, they told us we'd be allowed to have 16," he joked at a news conference. "But only on the condition that the 16th man doesn't tackle anybody."

  Hooker Raphael Ibanez seemed peeved he hadn't come up with the idea. "That's a good tactic," he said. "Very original."
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