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England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion

England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook
England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook

Georgia Under-20 beat England for the first time, sparking a pitch invasion in Tbilisi after another landmark victory for their country.

The topsy-turvy game was the second of a two-match series acting as a warm-up for the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, which will begin in South Africa later this month.

England edged home 41-36 in the first encounter on Saturday but could not resist a determined fightback from the hosts this time around in what was Mark Mapletoft’s second outing as head coach. A concerning result follows a fourth-place finish in the Six Nations, behind Italy, for this age grade earlier in the season.

Despite leading 14-0 and 24-14 at different stages in the first half, the tourists went down to a late double from back-row replacement Andro Dvali and Georgia’s defence held out to secure a 40-38 triumph. A feat made all the more impressive given the high esteem that the current Under-20s squad is currently regarded in at Twickenham.

Mapletoft’s side now travel to the World Championship where they are in a tricky pool with Australia and Fiji as well as Ireland, the Six Nations Grand Slam champions.

Georgia, whose senior team have overturned Italy and Wales over the past year, thrashed Scotland 55-17 at this level in 2022 and are grouped with Italy, South Africa and Argentina this summer.

England did begin in impeccable fashion on Thursday lunchtime. Left wing Alex Wills caught Connor Slevin’s kick-off to put them ahead within seconds and they opened up a 14-0 advantage when Afolabi Fasogbon capitalised on a Joe Jenkins offload.

A break-out from Georgia was then finished by scrum-half and skipper Davit Khuroshvili, however, and scores were level before the end of the first quarter after Petre Khutisishvili added another try following effective running from full-back Vazha Mikaddze and left wing Luka Tsirekidze.

England hit back again with a clever line-out peel that was finished well by hooker Finn Theobald-Thomas. Wills soon had a second thanks to slick handling that consolidated Jenkins’ charge from a first-phase backline move.

At 24-14 behind, Georgia rallied either side of the break. Nikoloz Lomidze burrowed over to reward a sequence of muscular mauls and then Luka Kotorashvili trundled through a breakdown to put his team in front for the first time.

England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook
England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook
England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook
England misery continues as Under-20s suffer first defeat by Georgia – sparking pitch invasion - Facebook

Charlie Bracken sniped over to give his side hope of holding off their opponents but Dvali’s brace, the first try following a close-range quick-tap and the second from Tsirekidze’s offload to cap a flowing attack out wide, arrived while England were reduced to 14 men. Jenkins, starting at full-back had been sin-binned by referee Nika Amashukeli for creeping offside with the visitors under severe pressure.

Although Greg Fisilau’s pick and go gave England one last play to rescue themselves, Georgia defenders piled in to force a maul turnover and land a famous win.