Ireland blow away Georgia

A second-half blitz helped Ireland secure a 49-7 victory over Georgia in Dublin on Sunday.

Heading into the break with a narrow 9-0 lead after a scrappy and ill-tempered first half, the Irish hit their straps in the second half to run in seven tries against a fading Georgian defence.

The Georgians had done well to stifle the Irish in the first 40 minutes, competing well at the breakdown and in the set pieces, where they managed to disrupt the Irish rolling maul.

However, the Georgians were often guilty of overstepping the mark in a bid to halt the Irish, and scrumhalf Giorgi Begadze paid the price for his team's mounting penalty count just before the interval.

By the time of his return in the 50th minute, the Irish had added on 14 unanswered points to open up a 23-0 lead. Begadze atoned for his earlier indiscretion to set up lock Giorgi Nemsadze for a fine try, but that would be the last of the resistance.

Further tries through Simon Zebo, a brace from Felix Jones and a try from Stuart Olding on debut completed the rout for the Irish, who continued their good start to the November Tests.

Ireland – Tries: Dave Kilcoyne, Richardt Strauss, Simon Zebo, Feilix Jones (2), Stuart Olding. Conversions: Ian Madigan (3). Penalties: Madigan (5).
Georgia – Try: Giorgi Nemsadze. Conversion: Merab Kvirikashvili.

Ireland – 15 Felix Jones, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan (c), 8 Robbie Diack, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Dave Foley, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Subs: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Stuart Olding.

Georgia – 15 Merab Kvirikashvili, 14 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 13 David Kacharava , 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Sandro Todua, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Giorgi Begadze, 8 Dimitri Basilaia, 7 Vito Kolelishvili, 6 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Kote Mikautadze, 3 Davit Kubriashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Subs: 16 Simon Maisuradze, 17 Zurab Zhvania, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Levan Datunashvili, 20 Giorgi Chkhaidze, 21 Vazha Khutsishvili, 22 Lasha Malaguradze, 23 Muraz Giorgadze.

Photo: Paul Faith/Getty Images