Georgia’s rugby team ends historic Pacific tour with a win

Georgia's national rugby team will return home unbeaten after ending a three game tour of friendly test matches in the Pacific Islands with a win against Fiji.

Over the past two week the Lelos played Samoa, Tonga and Fiji in the three respective Pacific Islands.

In the third and final match, Georgia took on Fiji earlier today and won.

The final score was 14-3 in Georgia's favour however the earlier part of the match was evenly matched. 

At the end of the first 40-minute half the score was tied at 3-all but as the teams took to the pitch in the second half Georgia raced ahead and scored a try followed by two penalties

Today's win meant Georgia earned two wins and a draw in the three test series against Samoa, Tonga and Fiji - three teams that are ranked among the top 15 nations in the official World Rugby rankings.

Georgia centre David Katcharava (L) celebrated his 95th appearance for the 'Lelos' against Fiji earlier today. Photo from Georgian Rugby/Facebook.

Today's win coincided with the Pacific Nations Cup 2016, which ran simultaneously with the test matches and featured Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.

In the first match of the tour on June 11 Georgia drew with Samoa 19-all.

One week later, on June 18 Georgia enjoyed its first encounter with Tonga after last year's Rugby World Cup.

Georgia prevailed in the friendly but difficult clash with a final score 23-20, however the Lelos had six days of recovery before today's test against Fiji.

In a preview for the Fiji game, the World Rugby website said a victory for Georgia would mean the team's results in the three-match Pacific series would "vindicate" their recent calls for regular opportunities against high-ranking teams.

Before today's match Georgia's coach Milton Haig said his players would "give everything they have for the whole match so that we have a chance to write history once again for Georgian rugby."

The performances by the Lelos in the three games also saw stellar individual displays coming from centre David Katcharava, who was named in this week's "dream team" of the June test matches.

The team, composed by Britain's Sky Sports broadcaster, featured Katcharava as one of the top 15 players of international friendly games of the week. His selection came after he scored two tries against Tonga.

Katcharava's appearance against Fiji marked his 95th game for Georgia, with a similar feat achieved by fullback Merab Kvirikashvili.