Last-gasp penalty miss denies Portugal first win

TOULOUSE, France :Nuno Sousa Guedes missed a last-minute penalty as Portugal agonisingly failed to secure a first-ever World Cup victory on Saturday as Georgia scored a 78th-minute try - then missed the conversion - to force a thrilling 18-18 Pool C draw.

Georgia raced into a 13-0 lead but after a nervous opening 30 minutes, Portugal took control of the game in the second half and scored 18 unanswered points heading into the final two minutes of the contest.

But when replacement scrumhalf Pedro Lucas gave away a needless penalty for offside at the ruck, Georgia were able to set up an attacking lineout and drive over through hooker Tengiz Zamtaradze.

Luka Matkava missed what would have been the winning conversion from out wide, and later Guedes put his penalty attempt off target with the final play of the game in a frenetic and hugely entertaining finish to the match.

Georgia have now gone 19 games unbeaten against Portugal, though there are four draws in there, as winger Akaki Tabutsadze and Zamtaradze crossed for their two scores.

The excellent Raffaele Storti grabbed a brace of tries for Portugal, who will rue their inability to manage the final few minutes, and Lucas’ rush of blood to the head that handed Georgia a scoring chance.

Portugal had a chaotic start as they conceded the opening try inside two minutes when Georgia spun the ball out wide and Davit Niniashvili gave a lovely slight-of-hand pass to Tabutsadze, who dotted down.

That rattled the Portuguese, who were rushed into errors in their own 22 and only let off the hook by a Georgian side that were unable to punish them.

Flyhalf Tedo Abzhandadze landed the conversion and two penalties to stretch the Georgian advantage, before Portugal showed a glimpse of their