Georgia rue early injuries after Fiji defeat

BORDEAUX, France : Georgia were left to rue injuries as they were eliminated from the Rugby World Cup with a 17-12 defeat by Fiji in a poor game that could have turned their way after the clock turned red on Saturday.

Having scored a late penalty, Georgia got the ball back and chased a long kick, but Luka Matkava was beaten to it by Frank Lomani in the 82nd minute.

Georgia were 9-0 up at halftime, but their lack of strength in depth cost them dearly.

"We had a good week of preparation and the boys played very hard," coach Levan Maisashvili said.

"But, unfortunately, we suffered some early injuries at the start of the game and that cost us in the second half."

Hooker Tengiz Zamtaradze was replaced with a wrist injury after 12 minutes and he was followed off by Lasha Jaiani five minutes later after the lock suffered an ankle injury.

"Our performance was not quite enough but we also had a couple of young, inexperienced players on the bench. They worked hard and gave everything but unfortunately it was not enough to win," said Maisashvili.

Georgia end their campaign against qualified Wales.

"We will continue to fight for the next game. All the players will give their maximum to show our country at its best," captain Mikheil Nariashvili said.

Georgia have never made it past the pool phase in six World Cup appearances, their best result coming in 2015 when they finished third in Pool C behind New Zealand and Argentina after beating Namibia and Tonga.

(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)