Duhan van der Merwe’s double helped Scotland come from behind to beat Georgia 33-6 in their final match of the Summer Nations Series.
Two Luka Matkava penalties had opened up a 6-0 half-time advantage for the visitors at Scottish Gas Murrayfield and a second upset of the day looked possible following Fiji’s win at Twickenham earlier in the afternoon.
But two tries in three minutes early in the second period saw momentum swing Scotland’s way, van der Merwe and Rory Darge crossing for the hosts.
Tries from Jack Dempsey and Kyle Steyn stretched the advantage before Van der Merwe had the final word with his second score late on.
Scotland looked dangerous in the early stages, Van der Merwe showing evidence of his trademark early power with ball in hand.
But Georgia rode the storm and were soon in front, Matkava stepping up to slot between the posts after Grant Gilchrist was penalised at the breakdown in the 11th minute.
Ollie Smith won the race to a loose ball over the Scotland tryline to prevent the hosts falling further behind but Georgia did stretch their advantage shortly afterwards through another Matkava penalty.
Scotland made an overdue visit to their opponents’ 22 with a kick to the corner in search of a route back in to the game but Russell lost the ball in contact as Georgia held firm.
Kyle Steyn, a late replacement for Darcy Graham when the wing picked up a strain, then saw a try ruled out four minutes before the break as a television review found he had lost control of the ball prior to grounding, leaving Scotland heading into the break with plenty of work to do.
The turnaround was swift after the interval and, perhaps inevitably, was inspired by some magic from the hosts’ mercurial fly-half.
Russell’s outside of the boot crossfield kick was perfect for van der Merwe, who crossed in the corner for a try expertly converted from the touchline by the Scotland No.10.
There was no let-up for Georgia as the pressure stayed on and it soon resulted in a second try. Russell and Van der Merwe again laid the foundations and several phases after the wing had been stopped just short, Darge was on hand to barge his way over.
Dempsey crossed from similarly close range just before the hour mark, Russell’s replacement Ben Healy adding the extras to open up a suddenly comfortable 21-6 lead.
The hooker was also heavily involved in Scotland’s fourth try, making his way to within a metre before the ball was recycled and Steyn, denied in the first half, had a simple walk-in.
Van der Merwe came within a whisker of latching on to Healy’s crossfield kick, which just had too much on it and was spilled in to touch, but there was no stopping the winger when a long pass found him in acres of space for a simple finish on the left.
