Ireland hold slender lead at half time

Ireland 7 Georgia 3

Ulster hooker Rory Best touched down to give Ireland a narrow first-half lead in their World Cup Pool D clash with Georgia.

Best drove over in the 17th minute for a try converted by Ronan O’Gara – the highlight of a messy first half from Eddie O’Sullivan’s side.

Pau fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili landed a penalty late in the half to slash the deficit to just four points in what was becoming a gripping contest.

A cheeky short kick-off helped Georgia make a lively start with poor service from Peter Stringer putting Ronan O'Gara under pressure.

Luckily for Ireland it was only prop Avtandil Kopaliani chasing and O’Gara was able to scoop up the ball and launch it into touch.

The Munster fly-half’s kicking had been off-key against Namibia and a poor clearance in the seventh minute set-up a Georgian counter-attack.

Struggling to contain the muscular Georgians, Ireland conceded a penalty which Merab Kvirikashvili pushed wide from a tricky angle.

Georgia were winning the early collisions with Simon Easterby and David Wallace requiring treatment from the team doctor.

Brian O’Driscoll was prominent with two profitable runs as Ireland weathered the expected early storm but a knock on from Paul O’Connell and loose Horgan kick saw the momentum fade.

While Georgia appeared a match for their opponents up front, they looked distinctly fallible when the Irish back got their hands on the ball.

The first try of the match was delivered by Ireland’s pack, however, with a line-out catch and drive seeing them pour through the heart of the Georgian forwards and over the line.

Ulster hooker Rory Best emerged with the ball – his second Test try – and O’Gara landed a challenging conversion, only to then miss a routine penalty.

O’Gara’s problems continued with a poor angled kick allowing Georgia to build a head of steam.

They used their big forwards to make hard yards, repeatedly breaking the gainline until a drop-kick from Kvirikashvili dropped just short of the uprights.

Ireland’s fitness levels looked superior even at this early stage, but Georgia’s well-drilled pack was doing enough damage to keep them contained.

Munster number eight Denis Leamy was lucky to escape a card for a deliberate stamp on Ilia Maiuradze in the 29th minute.

His boot missed the prone Nantes back row but the citing officer will definitely want a second look at the incident.

A well-weighted kick from O’Gara was cleared up by winger Giorgi Shkinin and just as Ireland sought to crank the pressure, the ball squirted free from a maul.

O’Driscoll was clearly up for this match, shoving team-mate Leamy out of the way as he sought possession and then making a swashbuckling break before being crunched by a trio of Georgian defenders.

But a stunning charge from Shkinin swept Georgia out of their own half and when openside David Wallace had been sin-binned for killing the ball, Kvirikashvili stepped up to slot the three points.