Georgia gave the World Rugby Nations Cup its first hard edge by beating Uruguay 41-34 in Montevideo, turning the new competition’s opening fixture into a seven-point statement.
The Lelos needed a late finish to settle it. With Uruguay still alive after a second-half fightback, Mikheil Alania crossed in the 78th minute before Luka Matkava converted to push Georgia clear at Estadio Charrua.
World Rugby’s official match centre recorded five tries apiece, but Georgia carried the sharper attacking return: 266 metres to Uruguay’s 209, 17 defenders beaten to six, and six clean breaks to five.
Matkava Control Gives Georgia The Difference
Matkava’s role was decisive. The Georgian fly-half scored a first-half try, added four conversions from four, and kicked two penalties, giving Pierre-Henry Broncan’s side the scoreboard control Uruguay could not quite match.
Georgia’s other tries came through Nika Sutidze, Tornike Jalagonia, a penalty try, and Alania’s decisive late score. Uruguay replied through Joaquin Myszka, Juan Gonzalez, Felipe Arcos Perez, Juan Manuel Alonso and Ignacio Rodriguez, with Jean Cotarmanac’h adding three conversions and a penalty.
World Rugby’s tournament hub has framed the Nations Cup as a new competitive layer for emerging Test nations, and this opener immediately delivered the jeopardy it needed.
Discipline Leaves Uruguay Short
Uruguay’s problem was not ambition. It was control. Los Teros conceded 18 penalties to Georgia’s 12 and lost Manuel Ardao to a 66th-minute yellow card, the phase that produced Georgia’s penalty try.
That swing mattered. Uruguay had enough possession late to chase the game, but Georgia’s greater efficiency and Matkava’s perfect kicking return made the difference.
For Georgia, the result is more than a first-round win. It is a marker that the Lelos can travel, absorb pressure and still land the final blow in the sort of fixture that should shape the Nations Cup table.
