Georgia bounced back from their opening World Cup defeat against Wales with a 33-7 bonus-point Pool D victory against Uruguay. Georgia’s superior strength was too much for their South American opponents to handle and they ran in five tries at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium.

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To make matters worse for Uruguay, replacement Facundo Gattas was sent off late on for a high tackle.

It took just eight minutes for Georgia to hit the scoreboard. The wing Alexander Todua broke through the Uruguayan defence and received a penalty after coming up just short of the try-line. From the resulting scrum, Georgia spun the ball wide and Todua had an easy run in. The No 8 Otari Giorgadze then picked up from the base of another dominant Georgia scrum five metres out and there was no stopping him crashing over.

Uruguay hit back almost immediately from a lineout. The wing Rodrigo Silva burst through a series of Georgian tackles and laid the ball off to the inside-centre Andres Vilaseca for an easy run under the posts.

Georgia needed just two minutes of the second half to extend their lead and it was no surprise it again came from their dominance at the set‑piece, Levan Chilachava this time burrowing over from a five-metre scrum.

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Jaba Bregvadze secured the bonus point when he touched down from a rolling maul after 51 minutes and moments later Giorgi Kveseladze pounced on a loose ball to add the fifth try after Silva lost possession close to his own try line.

Uruguay were reduced to 14 men three minutes from the end when Gattas left the English referee Wayne Barnes with little option but to dismiss the replacement after a no-arms tackle, the Uruguayan’s shoulder making contact with the head of the Georgia flanker Shalva Sutiashvili.

“I’m really proud of the boys and how we played. It was important for us to get this first win out of the way,” said Georgia’s coach, Milton Haig. “We’ve worked so hard over the last four months – even four years really – so [I’m] pretty stoked about getting the job done.”

Uruguay’s coach, Esteban Meneses, said: “We prepared physically, technically and mentally. Georgia are very good in the scrum and line maul. We need to improve in these areas.”