Billy Burns scored his first international try as Ireland finished their Group A campaign with a scrappy victory against Georgia.
Burns crossed early in the first half from Chris Farrell’s pass, while he also kicked two conversions and two penalties in a 15-point haul.
Giorgi Kveseladze scored Georgia’s first points of the Autumn Nations Cup with a stunning individual try, before Ireland winger Hugo Keenan dotted down from a fizzing Jacob Stockdale pass.
Ireland will host Scotland in the 3rd/4th place play-off next weekend, while Georgia will face Fiji for seventh.
IRELAND ON TOP DESPITE GEORGIA STUNNER
Ireland arrived at the Aviva Stadium knowing a victory of any kind would ensure they’d face Scotland in the 3rd/4th place play-off on Finals Weekend and they started well.
They immediately camped inside the Georgia half, searching for a way through, and that pressure told in just the ninth minute from a lineout.
Lock Iain Henderson and No.8 CJ Stander carried hard and took Ireland to within inches of the try line when they moved it right and Chris Farrell set up Burns to score his first international try.
The fly-half converted and then added a penalty shortly after to move Ireland 10-0 up but Georgia responded with their first points of the tournament, courtesy of a stunning Kveseladze try.
The centre picked the ball up on halfway, threw a couple of dummies and weaved his way through scrambling Irish defenders all the way to the try line.
The conversion cut the Ireland lead to three points but Burns doubled that with his second penalty of the day, before Keenan scored his third Test try of the autumn six minutes before half-time.
Ireland had a scrum five metres out but after a series of re-sets, they moved the ball through the hands to the right and full-back Stockdale played the final pass out to Keenan to slide in and score.
The hosts, brimming with confidence, thought they had a third before the break as Stockdale again whipped out a fabulous long pass to the waiting Stuart McCloskey on the left wing and he galloped 50 metres to the try line.
However, TMO rightly spotted Stockdale’s looping pass was forwards and ruled it out.
IRELAND FRUSTRATED IN TIGHT SECOND HALF
Georgia bagged the first points of the second half when Tedo Abzhandadze hammered through a penalty after Beka Gorgadze won a turnover penalty on Farrell.
Much like in the first half, Ireland were on the front foot for much of it but Georgia’s tenacity and powerful scrum proved difficult to overcome and the visitors won a crucial penalty on their own five-metre line a couple of minutes after Abzhandadze’s penalty.
They could not stop replacement fly-half Ross Byrne from adding a third Ireland penalty on the hour-mark, a score which stretched the hosts’ lead to 23-10.
However, Georgia managed to frustrate the hosts for the rest of the match with excellent defence and powerful scrums.
CJ Stander thought he had a try in the final minute when he drove for the line off the back of a driving maul, only for it to be held up.
KEY MOMENT
Against a physical opponent, a fast start is essential and Ireland made one at the Aviva Stadium with a try in just the ninth minute.
The Georgian forwards lost a lineout deep inside their own half and Ireland pounced, securing the ball from their own lineout and working it right for Burns to score.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
In a game dominated by forwards, Ireland lock Iain Henderson stood tall and produced an all-action display from the heart of the pack.
The Ulsterman was relentless in the tackle and strong at the lineout as Ireland overcame a stubborn Georgia.
