TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Georgia denied Portugal a first-ever win at the Rugby World Cup by scoring a 78th-minute try to snatch an 18-18 draw on Saturday.
Replacement hooker Tengizi Zamtaradze’s try from the back of a rolling maul wasn’t converted by Luka Matkava, and Portugal had one more chance for a landmark victory when Georgia gave away a penalty for obstruction off the restart.
With the clock in the red, Nuno Guedes pulled his kick wide.
Still, Portugal gained its first points at a Rugby World Cup in its sixth match in the tournament, having lost all four pool games in 2007 and opened this World Cup with a 28-8 defeat to a second-string Wales.
Os Lobos recovered from being 13-0 down after 32 minutes on the back of two blistering tries by winger Raffaele Storti.
They didn’t concede another point until Zamtaradze’s try.
Georgia’s record of winning at least one match at every Rugby World Cup since 2007 is under threat now, with games against Fiji and Wales to come.
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