On Saturday, Georgia scored a try in the 78th minute and missed the conversion, forcing an exciting 18-18 Pool C tie as Nuno Sousa Guedes missed a last-second penalty as Portugal agonizingly missed out on their first-ever Rugby World Cup victory.
Georgia jumped out to an early 13-0 lead, but after a tense first half, Portugal took over and scored 18 unanswered points in the second half to take the lead with two minutes left in the game.
Georgia was able to set up an attacking lineout and drive over through hooker Tengiz Zamtaradze, though, after replacement scrumhalf Pedro Lucas gave away an unnecessary penalty for offside at the ruck.
As the game came to a frenetic and incredibly entertaining conclusion, Luka Matkava missed what would have been the game-winning conversion from wide, and Guedes then missed his penalty attempt with the final play.
With two goals from wingers Akaki Tabutsadze and Zamtaradze, Georgia has gone 19 games without losing to Portugal, though there have been four draws along the way.
Portugal will regret their inability to control the final few minutes and Lucas’ rush of blood to the head that provided Georgia with a scoring opportunity.
The excellent Raffaele Storti scored a brace of tries.
Portugal’s game got off to a rocky start when they gave up the first try to Georgia after just two minutes.
Tabutsadze scored after Georgia spun the ball out wide and Davit Niniashvili made a lovely slight-of-hand pass to him.
That frightened the Portuguese, who were forced into mistakes in their own 22 and only let off the hook by a Georgian team that was powerless to correct them.
Prior to Portugal showcasing some of their potential shortly after the halfway point, flyhalf Tedo Abzhandadze of Georgia made the conversion and two penalties to increase their lead.
Storti found the tiniest opening in the Georgian defense and raced past defenders to score in the corner thanks to their dynamic back three, which is full of running.
When opposition hooker Shalva Mamukashvili was tackled by Georgia prop Francisco Fernandes, who made no attempt to wrap his arms around the player, the momentum was momentarily stopped.
As Georgia led 13-5 at the half, referee Paul Williams rightfully sent Fernandes to the sin-bin.
Two penalties from Samuel Marques gave Portugal the first points of the second half after they survived the ten minutes without a player.
Storti scored his second to make it 18-13 thanks to a brilliant offload in the tackle from Jeronimo Portela as they were clearly in the lead and Georgia was unable to leave their half.
In the dying minutes, Georgia managed to gain a foothold in Portugal’s half and, after Lucas conceded his unnecessary penalty, they were able to set up an attacking lineout and score a goal through Zamtaradze.