Pablo Bouza's men will face Portugal in the semi-finals
MADRID, 17 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish men's XV rugby team fell this Saturday against Georgia at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi (38-3) on the third day of the European Championship, in a match in which a terrible second half condemned the 'Lions', that they have not been able to defend first place in Group A and that they will face Portugal in the semifinals.
Pablo Bouza's young group, still in construction, stopped the Georgian scrums and maules again and again during the first 40 minutes, but succumbed in the second period, where they gave up a total of six tries and were punished by the blows and the unforced errors in attack.
Spain managed to find the Georgian seams and managed to take the lead after forcing the home team's first infringement; Fly-half Gonzalo López Bontempo converted it into points by passing a complicated and distant kick between the sticks. However, Georgia got the ball and using their favorite weapon, the scrum, managed to get into the Spanish line of 5 once again. The Lions disconnected the Georgian 'touch maul' and forced another forward, saving the 'Lelos' second clear chance of a try.
With less than seven minutes left before the break, the 'Lions' forced an unplayable ball into another Georgian 'touch maul' in the rival field, but the good rival defense recovered the oval. After that, Spain gave up another punishing blow in their 22nd minute, in which the locals preferred to look at 'touch' rather than secure the points with sticks; Tengiz Peranidze managed to get to the score line, signing the first try of the match (7-3) just before the break.
After returning from the locker room, Georgia swept everything, taking advantage of the Spanish's unforced errors. Akaki Tabutsadze scored the second try despite defender Jon-Wessel Bell's tackle. The locals placed themselves again on the Spanish line of 5, taking advantage of a new infraction and went inside with the maul, which was blocked irregularly, so the referee declared a penalty try and yellow card for Ekain Imaz.
Almost immediately, John-Wessel Bell saw another yellow card, and the Spanish were left with only 13 troops. A new hand error was taken advantage of by Giorgi Kveseladze to score the fourth, and Mikheili Babunashvili and Demuri Tapladze did the same in the final stages to sign the final 38-3, which positions Georgia at the top of Group A to meet the second place in Group B at home in the semifinals.
Spain, for its part, will meet the first classified in Group B, Portugal, which snatched the pole position from Romania after beating it on the last day (24-49), in Lisbon.