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Richard Whiffin’s side held on to claim a narrow 24-25 victory against the hosts in Tbilisi
Wales U20s held on to claim a dramatic 24-25 victory against Georgia in their opening match of the Junior World Championship, ending the game with 13 men.
Richard Whiffin’s side were eight points clear heading into the final five minutes, but faced a nervy finish as wing Tom Bowen picked up a second yellow card moments before Yestyn Cook was also sent from the field for conceding a late penalty try that saw the hosts in Tbilisi close the gap to a single point.
As Georgia pushed for a late winner, it looked as though they had done so as replacement back rower Irakli Kolbaia bulldozed his way over the line only to be judged to have been held up, with Wales holding on to record an opening round win.
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Gloucester flanker Caio James had given Whiffin’s young side the perfect start as he powered over under the posts after just five minutes, with Scarlets fly-half Carwyn Leggatt-Jones adding the extras from the tee.
Cardiff wing Rhys Cummings then stretched Wales’ advantage with just over quarter of an hour gone, showing neat footwork to beat two men and cross in the left corner.
However, Georgia responded through the highly-rated Mikheil Shioshvili, with the Toulon backrow bundling over after a powerful lineout drive.
Shioshvili struck again three minutes before half-time, showing his immense strength as he carried Sion Davies and Evan Minto with him as he powered over the line to reduce the deficit to 15-12 at the break.
After the restart, Bowen was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, with Georgia capitalising immediately as prop Gabriel Razmadze got the ball down off the back of another lineout.
Despite their man disadvantage, however, Wales went looking for a response.
They thought they had it seven minutes later as a superb long-range pass from Steffan Emanuel saw full-back Lewis Edwards go over in the corner.
However, replays showed that Edwards had lost the ball from his grasp under pressure when going over the line.
There was to be no mistake moments later, however, as Leggatt-Jones crossed following more impressive work from co-captain Emanuel.
A 75th-minute penalty try for Georgia saw Cook follow Bowen off the field to set up a nail-biting finish, but Wales did enough to hold on to seal victory and leave the hosts heartbroken after a pulsating encounter.
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