France finish with a flourish against flat Georgia

Georgia U20s 17 (10)

Tries: Kuntelia 8, Tsikhistavi 54
Conversions: Khutsishvili 9, 55
Penalties: Khutsishvili 23

France U20s 44 (17)

Tries: Masse 27, 34, Boudou 43, Bielle-Biarrey 45, Auriac 65, Banos 74
Conversions: Auriac 28, 47, 67, Dayral 74
Penalties: Auriac 42, 59

France survived a 20-minute spell with 13 men to beat Georgia and finish their Under-20 Six Nations Summer Series with a flourish in the fifth-place playoff.

The Junior Lelos got off to a flying start as they raced into a 10-0 lead with prop Alexandre Kuntelia at full stretch to dot down.

However, Gatien Masse’s double and a score for Benjamin Boudou on the stroke of half-time after Georgia prop Sergo Abramishvili was sent to the sin bin gave Les Bleuets a 17-10 half-time lead.

Thomas Moukoro was sent off for a dangerous tackle at the start of the second half, but Max Auriac’s penalty and Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s converted try kept France on top.

Brent Liufau was shown yellow, and Georgia capitalised through Lasha Tsikhistavi but another Auriac penalty and then an interception meant Robin Bellemand’s sin-binning had little effect before Leo Banos’ score sealed matters.

Player of the match Massé single-handedly grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with two tries in the space of seven minutes.

But it was his first score that really caught the eye on the right wing.

He caught a beautifully floated ball from fly-half Barré and still had plenty of work to do but completed the score with ease.

Massé’s fast feet stood Georgia full-back Saba Liparteliani up in a small space and he dived in at the corner despite the attention of some vociferous last-ditch defence.

Both sides fell foul of the referee’s whistle but ultimately France’s ability to weather the storm proved crucial in earning them the victory.

Georgia’s game plan is no secret, and their large forward pack began to wilt in the heat after a draining physical effort took its toll.

Referee: Federico Vedovelli

Star man: Gatien Masse (France)

MATCH STATS:

Penalties conceded: 15/13
Lineouts won: 11/16
Lineouts lost: 1/0
Scrums won: 2/8
Scrums lost: 5/3
Yellow cards: 2/1
Red cards: 1/0

FRANCE: Auriac (Garcia 69), Bielle-Biarrey, Gailleton, Depoortere (Randle 63), Masse, Barre (Dayral 69), Tarel (Jauneau 58); Moukoro, Boudou (Montgaillard 40), da Cunha (Bellemand 40), M’Foudi (Portat 53), Liufau (Suta 64), Della Schiava (Coulon 53), Baudonne (Banos 53), Tixeront (Pacheco 49) 

GEORGIA: Liparteliani, Aptsiauri, Kakhoidze, Chikovani, Sakhlelashvili (Kevkhishvili 50), Khutsishvili (Modebadze 67), Khuroshvili; Abramishvili, Sutidze (Mamaishvili 45, Abramishvili 75), Kuntelia (Babunashvili 47), Burduli, Galdava (Kurkhuli 57), Tsikhistavi (Kervalishvili 70), Zazadze (Mamaiashvili 39-42, Gelkhvidze 57), Shvangiradze