Italy labors past Georgia 20-17 and ends drought in Genoa
Associated PressGENOA, Italy — Italy barely avoided being embarrassed by Georgia again when it labored to a 20-17 win in autumn rugby on Sunday. Tries by Aka Tabutsadze and Vasil Lobzhanidze helped Georgia to a 17-6 advantage at halftime but the visitors’ indiscipline let them down after the break as Italy was awarded a penalty try and replacement Alessandro Fusco scored while Tabutsadze was in the sin-bin. It’s always a Six Nations litmus test for them in the court of public opinion: Italy having to prove it belongs and Georgia pushing its claim to replace the Italians. Georgia stunned almost from the restart, quick offloads tearing apart Italy and Ilia Spanderashvili giving wing Tabutsadze his 40th try in his 45th test. Things immediately went from bad to worse for Italy when fullback Davit Niniashvili stormed through the Azzurri defense, slipped three defenders, drew the last man, and sent captain Vasil Lobzhanidze racing to the posts.
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