Paul O’Connell’s short reign in charge of Ireland got off to the perfect start as their understrength side cruised to a 34-5 victory over Georgia in Tbilisi.
Tommy O’Brien, making his debut after a fine season for Leinster, scored a brace within the opening 10 minutes as the visitors signalled their intent.
To their credit, the Lelos did respond just before the break through Tornike Jalagonia, but Ireland dominated the second period and sealed the win through Craig Casey and Nick Timoney tries, while Sam Prendergast added two penalties and four conversions.
O’Connell’s men travelled to Eastern Europe shorn of stars, who are of course with the British and Irish Lions, but they were still able to field a very talented squad in Tbilisi.
Plenty of players were seeking to prove their worth and their class showed in the early stages as they moved into an early 14-point lead.
From the kick-off, the visitors made ground with ball in hand and were across the whitewash after just two minutes when Prendergast’s chip through resulted in Tommy O’Brien touching down on debut.
The Leinster fly-half was given the nod over Jack Crowley for this encounter and soon after he had his second assist when the playmaker’s pass was once again collected by wing O’Brien.
It was the perfect start for the Irishmen but Georgia would soon get into the game and their scrum caused problems for the visitors.
The Lelos pressurised the opposition line and created a few opportunities but the try would not come as solid Ireland defence, combined with Georgian profligacy, harmed their hopes of a comeback.
Their all-time leading try-scorer Akaki Tabutsadze didn’t help matters by surprisingly failing to ground the ball with the line begging and that would ultimately cost Richard Cockerill’s men.
Although Jalagonia touched down at the end of the first half, they were unable to build on that score and duly found themselves out of the contest in the early stages of the second period.
Georgia once again switched off at the start of the half, but credit must also go to Ireland who manufactured an excellent try.
Calvin Nash was the instigator as the wing broke down the left before he found Ryan Baird, who then combined with Casey to finish it off.
Prendergast converted for the third time in the match and then added a penalty as Georgia’s hopes of a shock victory dissipated.
The Lelos were not helped by missing another try-scoring opportunity, this time through Vano Karkadze, who like Tabutsadze failed to keep control of the ball in the act of scoring.
Even with half-an-hour still remaining that was their chance gone as the visitors managed to control the remainder of the encounter.
Prendergast rewarded their dominance with a second three-pointer before the fly-half converted Nick Timoney’s try with 10 minutes left to complete the scoring.
The teams
Georgia: 15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Vladimeri Chachanidze, 4 Mikheili Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze
Replacements: 16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Giorgi Javakhia, 20 Ilia Spanderashvili, 21 Mikheil Alania, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze
Ireland: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Thomas Ahern, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Calvin Nash
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal (England), Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)
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