Argentina claim hard-fought win

The Pumas were on the front foot throughout but, owing to some tremendous defending by Georgia, were only 6-3 up at half-time courtesy of two Felipe Contepomi penalties.

The second half was a different story however, and as the grizzled Georgians tired, Lucas Borges (two), Patricio Albacete and Federico Martin Aramburu - with the game's last act - went over for tries.

Contepomi, with three penalties and two conversions, grabbed a 13-point haul with Merab Kvirikashvili scoring Georgia's only points.

The first half was spent almost entirely in the Georgian half, yet the Pumas harvested just two penalties for their efforts. That was down in part to some sloppy mistakes from Marcelo Loffreda's men, but praise should go to the mighty Georgian defence, who showed an unyielding appetite throughout for head-on confrontation.

It was the eastern Europeans who took the lead, Kvirikashvili taking advantage of Contepomi's spill from the kick-off, then Argentinian indiscipline to boot a simple penalty.

They then defended for their lives, some bruising tackling helping them keep the lead for 10 minutes.

Argentina restored parity with a 12th-minute Contepomi penalty and they were glad to see Kvirikashvili miss his second attempt at a three-pointer a minute later. The Argentinians held the whip hand but they just could not break down their opponents' rearguard.

There were just three points in it at the interval but an 11-minute spell at the start of the second half decided the game.

In the 47th minute, Sale flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe's show-and-go 20 metres out fooled the Georgia outside defence and he was able to set Borges free down the right flank for a score Contepomi converted. The Leinster fly-half - playing at centre here - kicked his third successful penalty to stretch the lead to 16-3 before Borges notched his second try.