Romania took a triple honor deservedly
In a great exhibition of FIRA AER rugby, Stejari
(Oaks) of Romania defeated Lelos (Sons of the Sun) of
Georgia by 31-23 (28-6 HT, 3-2 on tries) on Saturday,
6 April, at Tbilissi National Ground in front of
45 thousand local supporters, and took home with them a
couple of cups plus easier passage to the RWC'2003 Finals
It was another great occasion in the rivalry of two
second-tier European Nations. FIRA AER chief, M.Baque
of France was present at the match. Even President of
Georgia, ex-Soviet foreign minister, a man who put
down the Berlin Wall, Mr Shevardnadze came to the game
he never had watched before and contributed yet to
another Georgian demise
This was a classic example of 'the game of two halfs'
In the first only the Oaks played to their best and
secured a 22-point advantage they had NOT achieved so
far this season
At half-time Lelos French guru, Claude Saurel subbed
a prop, the halfback, the flyhalf and a wing. Then
he introduced two fresh back rowers and as a result,
Lelos thoroughly outplayed exhausted Oaks but it was
too little too late for the hosts
To the Oaks credit, their first-line defence was of
highest standard: aggressively encroaching and
water-proof throughout
On the opposite, Lelos lacked cohesion, direction,
even vigour and committment in the first half. After
the break Georgia came out pumped up, played to
well-drilled multi-phase attacking plan for most of
the period and amassed 17 pts in succession but that
was not enough to save the day
The first quarter belonged exclusively to Romania.
They raced to a 15 pt lead. Foolish GEO persisted with
their 'trademark' catch-up rugby. They were neglecting
the notion of tactical kicking outright and attacked
with ball in hand from their own 22
The Oaks, famous for their pragmatic approach to the
game from as early as 1950s, duly punished the hosts
capitalising on turnover ball from their 'brave' back
three and scored the crucial, SECOND try which, as
video-replay suggested, was an utterly illegitimate one
Notably, Khamashuridze and Urjukashvili mixed-up and
coughed the ball, Maftei grubbered and when it bounced
in the in-goal, Tincu pushed Khekhelashvili in the
back with both hands and fell on the ball. Albeit the
ref was on spot, he awarded a try to their Latin kins
despite objections from the Lelos ^0-15(18')
Saying this, it would be unfair not to mention the
Oaks' FIRST, spectacular try
Romania won a lineout 25m from the try line on the
right, rolled the maul by 15m, then had two hits,
sucked GEO forwards, put their backs on backfoot,
Mitu spun ball wide, Gontineac feinted and sent a
sweet inside ball to Seuan who came into line from his
wing and the Rovigo player cut Lelos' midfield for a
try ^0-5(13')
Much of the remainder of the half was played in the
same mode. GEO broke a duck through two PGs but each
time the Oaks countered in kind ^6-21(30')
Then disaster struck once again for the hosts: Lelos
kicked down-field, Brezoianu and Maftei run out from
defence, Tofan smartly switched the ball, prop Balan
rampaged and supporting Brezoianu crashed in the right
corner ^6-28(36')
It was too hard to come back in this situation but new
blood injected at the interval turned to be pivotal:
Lelos forwards took upper-hand on their adversaries
and so-far clueless backs suddenly became dangerous
and penetrative thanks to astute guidance and
distribution from new pair of Abu (#9) and BobaKv (#10)
Lelos enjoyed a flood of possession in the second half
(refer to STATS). They masterly recycled the ball,
stretching Oaks' defence and breaking through holes
time after time but to have any chance they needed
quick tries
The tries went begging for the reason that streetwise
Romanians were dropping tempo to have an extra breath.
They succeeded in gamesmanship so far that their French
mentor, Bernard Chareyerre even advised old warhorse
Constantin when the latter was serving 10 minute
suspension (sic)
In all GEO put kickable penalties to corner on
five occasions and attacked from resulting 5m
lineouts. ROM stand firm and absorbed a great deal of
pressure albeit their defence fell apart twice
First Magrakvelidze picked and went blindside from
25m scrum on the right, Abu drew Vioreanu and Makho
Urj^ sent covering Mitu (zilch to the one we knew
before he injured knee last year!) to clutch the air
^ 16-31(58')
Then Lelos chose scrum in lieu of 5m PK, sub-eightman
Chkhaidze picked up and smashed Tofan and Corodeanu
^23-31(74')
But the time ran out for Lelos. With one minute of
normal time left, Tofan who missed just a con and drop
attempt by that time, paniced, could not grubber a
clarance to touch and Khamashuridze almost grounded
the ball in Oaks' in-goal
Then Kvinikhidze missed a clutch drop-goal to secure
tense finale. In the end, deep into the injury time,
Maftei intercepted a risky GEO pass, kicked downfield,
outpaced the cover but dropped the ball forward with
the line in his sight
All in all, great game of rugby football deservedly
won by a more skillful and witty side. It's nice
that after last year's disasters Oaks are back as
a formidable rugby force
On the other hand, the Georgian rugby public was
outdone and betrayed by the Georgia RU staff
They kept the Antim Cup, which was generously donated
to the two rivaling countries by a volunteer
organization, RML (Rugby Supporters League), in a shed
during the match
That precious (in all senses) prize was given to Oaks
in the lockers and NOT on the field. That was true
shame and once again alikadoos spoiled a great rugby
occasion
Finally, as for RWC qualifying prospects, GEO now will
once again do a battle with RUSSIA, on 5th OCT 2002,
here, in Tbilissi and if they win, they'll make 'the
coveted 20' directly, without been involved in the
Repechages
END )))